Dynamo, Real Salt Lake try to regain winning ways
The Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake will both try to plug leaky defenses when they square off on Saturday in Sandy, Utah.
Houston (3-3-4, 13 points) is coming off consecutive draws. The Dynamo earned a road point with a 1-1 result against Los Angeles FC last Saturday. Then, Houston played to a 2-2 stalemate at home against Portland on Wednesday.
Defense remains an issue for the Dynamo. Houston has scored at least one goal in every MLS match this season, but has yielded goals just as often. The Dynamo's 14 goals in their 10 games rank fifth in the Western Conference, but their 15 goals allowed ranks 12th among the 13 teams.
The draw with the Timbers encapsulated this tendency. The Dynamo jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Portland behind first-half goals from Fafa Picault and Tyler Pasher. But Houston surrendered a pair of second-half goals, with Jeremy Ebobisse's equalizer in the 92nd minute allowing Portland to steal a road point.
"I don't just want to blame our team for not having energy," Houston coach Tab Ramos said. "Sometimes, good players make good plays."
Salt Lake (3-2-3, 12 points) split its last two matches, beating Vancouver 3-1 at home last Saturday and falling to Seattle 2-1 on the road Wednesday.
Giving up late goals has been a persistent problem for Salt Lake this season and prevented the Utah club from earning a road point against the league-leading Sounders. After RSL's Albert Rusnak knotted the score on a penalty kick in the 79th minute, Seattle's Raul Ruidiaz scored the game-winner off a penalty kick in the 88th minute following a handball infraction on RSL.
Still, Salt Lake feels good about where the club is headed despite winning only one of its last five matches.
"There were three unlucky plays that cost us (against Seattle), but I saw a lot of commitment from the guys," RSL coach Freddy Juarez said. "A lot more good than bad. A lot to build on."
This is the first match between Houston and Salt Lake since Sept. 29, 2019, when RSL scored a 2-1 victory in the second-to-last game of the season, clinching a spot in the playoffs.
--Field Level Media
