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Dynamo-United Preview

Sep 24, 2010 - 4:14 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Houston (6-14-5) at D.C. (5-17-3), 7:30 p.m. EDT

Once perennial contenders for the MLS Cup, D.C. United and the Houston Dynamo are merely trying to avoid finishing at the bottom of their respective conferences.

The struggles of United and the Dynamo, who meet Saturday night at RFK Stadium, are indicative of the changing landscape of MLS.

D.C. (5-17-3) has won a league-record four MLS Cups while Houston (6-14-5) is tied for the second most with two. The franchises, though, won't be competing for a title this season.

United will miss the playoffs for the third straight year. They have league worsts of 18 points and a minus-22 goal differential as they head for their first last-place finish since 2002.

Houston finished first or second the previous four seasons, but has 23 points and is last in the powerful Western Conference.

D.C. turned in one of its best efforts last Saturday at Los Angeles, taking the lead on Andy Najar's goal in the 60th minute against MLS' best team. United, though, allowed two goals by Landon Donovan over the final 10 minutes in a 2-1 loss.

"I'm just gutted for the guys because they put so much effort into it and they want it so bad," interim coach Ben Olsen said. "At the end of the day, whether it's a defensive lapse or - let's face it, we've got some chances to kill that game off."

Houston will have to regroup after a 4-3 home loss to Kansas City on Wednesday. The Dynamo built a 3-1 lead at halftime only to fall apart.

"It's a game," coach Dominic Kinnear said. "The first game of the season is the same as the 25th game of the season, and there are points on the line."

Houston has lost four straight, the last three by one goal. The Dynamo have twice blown leads over the last four games, yielding seven goals over the final 30 minutes of the matches in that span.

Cam Weaver had a goal and an assist Wednesday for Houston, which is 1-2-9 on the road.

"You can't point out individuals I don't think when you lose," Weaver said. "It's a collective effort. It's just disappointing."

Houston beat visiting D.C. 2-0 on May 22. That contest was part of United's second three-game skid in the first two months of the season that cost coach Curt Onalfo his job.

D.C. is 3-5-0 under Olsen.

"I really like this team, I like the way they've responded," Olsen said. "But again, it's not always enough to play hard. We've got to be smart and we've got to be clinical and we've got to get cutthroat when we've got the chances to do so."