FC Dallas will try for their third consecutive win on Saturday night when they host the rival Houston Dynamo in the Texas Derby in Frisco.
The Toros (6-3-3, 21 points) enter the contest in third place in the Western Conference, just two points behind the first-place Seattle Sounders and one point behind Los Angeles Football Club.
It will be the third game in an eight-day stretch for FC Dallas. The Toros won at Austin FC, 1-0, on May 13 on a Jesus Ferreira goal in the 89th minute. They followed that up by rallying to defeat the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps, 2-1, on Wednesday behind a brace by Ferreira.
“The win means a lot to us,” midfielder Tsiki Ntsabeleng told 3rddegree.net. “We’ve been talking about it since the Austin game, staying consistent because we haven’t beaten (Vancouver) in a long time.”
It was the first win over the Whitecaps since 2018 for FC Dallas. Ferreira, a forward on the U.S. men’s national team, is tied for second in the MLS with eight goals, including a league-leading five game-winners.
Houston (4-5-2, 14 points) comes in off a 1-0 loss at Minnesota United on Wednesday to fall to 0-4-1 on the road this season.
Struggling on the road is nothing new for the Dynamo, who are 4-23-3 in their last 30 road matches dating back to August 2021. Houston’s last road victory over an in-state opponent came in 2011 when it defeated Dallas, 1-0.
The Toros, who are 10-3-8 all-time at home against Houston, are unbeaten in 13 straight home meetings (9-0-4) with the Dynamo dating back to 2013.
Houston goalie Steve Clark is fourth in the MLS with five clean sheets and kept the Dynamo in the game at Minnesota with four saves, including a highlight-reel double-save on Franco Fragapane and then Bongokuhle Hlongwane on point-blank shots in the middle of the box in the second half.
“I think it was a game where it was easy to fold as a team, but I think we showed some grit to stay in it,” Clark said. “I thought we were pushing for the goal and we were unlucky not to get one at the end there, but we move on to Dallas.”
Dynamo forward Amine Bassi, who leads the MLS with four penalty-kick goals in four tries, and midfielder Hector Herrera will both return from one-game suspensions for garnering red cards in a 1-0 loss to Seattle on May 13.
–Field Level Media
