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Dynamo-FC Dallas Preview

Jun 12, 2009 - 8:56 PM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Houston (7-2-3) at FC Dallas (2-6-4), 8:30 p.m. EDT

The Houston Dynamo left their first match against FC Dallas with a three-game winning streak and their chief rivals in disarray.

While Dallas has started to turn itself around, the Dynamo aren't showing any signs of cooling off.

Houston brings a nine-game unbeaten streak and four-game winning streak into Pizza Hut Park on Saturday, but it'll face a Dallas squad that hasn't lost in more than a month.

The Dynamo (7-2-3) didn't get off to a fast start as they attempted to move past their stunning exit from the Western Conference semifinals last fall, going 0-2-2 in their first four matches. Houston compiled the best record in the West last season, only to fall in the first round of the playoffs.

Houston, though, has certainly put its subpar start behind it. After a scoreless tie with New York on April 11, the Dynamo won three straight from April 19-May 9 - beating FC Dallas 1-0 to close that stretch - tied New York 1-all May 16 and won the next four games.

Stuart Holden scored his fourth goal of the season in first-half injury time Wednesday to lift Houston past league-leading Chivas USA 1-0.

The Dynamo haven't allowed a goal in 307 minutes, the fourth-longest such streak in MLS this season.

"I try not to think about it too much. You can't sit there and think about it too much or rest on it because there's games coming fast. You turn around and on Saturday, boom, you've got another big one; a big rivalry against Dallas," defender Andrew Hainault said.

"We've done well, we've been on a great run here, and we have to just keep doing what we are doing as long as possible."

Dallas (2-6-4) had dropped three straight after last month's loss to Houston and appeared to be going nowhere in the competitive West.

However, the club has started to show signs of life in going 1-0-3 in the past four games, one of which was a 3-0 road win over East-leading Chicago. Dallas followed that up by playing to a 2-all draw with San Jose on Sunday as a late Kenny Cooper goal gave it the tie.

"I am disappointed we didn't get the win. I think every coach should go into a home game thinking that we are better," coach Schellas Hyndman said. "We have been improving and we were going for the three points, and we had that in the first half. In the second half, we just didn't really connect a lot with the passes. ... But, I am happy to come away with a point especially when you are losing 2-1 with six minutes left."

Cooper has six goals but hasn't gotten much help, as Dallas has only 14 goals this season - eight in six games at home. Finding the back of the net against Houston won't be easy either, as the Dynamo have allowed a league-low seven goals in their 12 matches.

Houston, however, has also struggled offensively, with its 16 goals placing it in the middle of the MLS pack. The Dynamo will be hurt up front Saturday by the absence of Brian Ching, who's tied with Holden for the team lead in goals.

Ching expects to miss at least another week while nursing a hamstring injury suffered last week while playing with the U.S. national team.

Houston is 6-1-5 all-time against Dallas.