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Red Bulls, Dynamo look to earn first win

Apr 11, 2009 - 2:19 AM By Paul DiGiacomo Stats Senior Editor

New York (0-2-1) at Houston (0-2-1), 8:30 p.m. EDT

HOUSTON (AP) -- The New York Red Bulls put an end to the Houston Dynamo's reign as back-to-back MLS Cup champions last season en route to their own appearance in the title match.

So far in 2009, neither club has played like a title contender.

Searching for their first wins of the season, New York and Houston try to put an end to their poor starts Saturday night, when they meet at Robertson Stadium.

The Dynamo won consecutive MLS Cups in 2006 and 2007 before entering last season's playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. They faced the fourth-seeded Red Bulls in a two-game, home-and-home semifinal series, losing on goal aggregate after falling, 3-0, at home in the second leg.

New York went on to defeat Real Salt Lake, 1-0, in the conference final before losing, 3-1, to Columbus in its first MLS Cup appearance.

This season, Houston (0-2-1) opened with a 1-1 tie at home against the Crew before suffering consecutive road losses to San Jose and D.C. United. New York (0-2-1) has sandwiched a 1-1 tie with New England between a pair of shutout losses to expansion Seattle and Chicago.

Last Sunday in a 1-0 defeat to the Fire, New York couldn't capitalize after Chicago midfielder John Thorrington was sent off for tackling Macoumba Kandji from behind on a breakaway in the 14th minute.

The Red Bulls took 11 shots, but only four were on goal. Two came in the 79th minute, when Juan Pablo Angel and Dominic Oduro had successive point-blank attempts stopped.

Angel still is searching for his first goal of the season after scoring 33 in 47 games over the last two years.

"We're creating the chances," Angel told the Red Bulls' official web site. "We haven't basically found the back of the net just yet. It happens sometimes in football. You create chances and you don't score, and it starts to play with your confidence. But I'm sure as soon as we get to score the first goal, many more will come. I'm not very concerned about it."

Houston is concerned with its third straight slow start to the season.

In 2007, the Dynamo opened 2-5-1 before going unbeaten in 11 matches. Last year, they started 4-4-5 before finishing the regular season on a 9-1-7 run, with their only loss in that span coming to New York.

"(We're) not happy," midfielder Brad Davis said after last Saturday's 1-0 loss to United. "It's tough; it's a tough pill to swallow. It's a reality check. Now we have to dig deep.

"We haven't had a great start in the past three years, which is true, but it's not an excuse. We're not happy to be in this situation. We're a better group than this, and we need to get back home and next week take advantage of being at home and get ourselves three points."

New York had been outscored, 6-1, in going 0-2-1 in its first three visits to Robertson Stadium before the surprising 3-0 win there in the playoffs.