Dynamo look for win to advance in Champions Cup: What to watch for
(image via Aldo Canale)
The Houston Dynamo have a quick turnaround back at Shell Energy Stadium as they take on St. Louis CITY SC tonight in the second leg of the Round One Concacaf Champions Cup match up. Houston played Saturday night, drawing 1-1 with Sporting Kansas City. St. Louis also played Saturday night and drew 1-1 against Real Salt Lake. St. Louis has the 2-1 edge after the first leg but the Dynamo do have an away goal that could prove to be vital.
When: Tuesday, February 27 | 9:40 PM CT kickoff
Where: Shell Energy Stadium; Houston, Texas
TV/Stream: FS2, Vix Premium Deportes 1
Radio: TUDN Deportes Houston 93.3 FM (Spanish)
Down a goal
Houston comes into this second leg trailing by a goal after a 90th minute winner for St. Louis in the first leg. The Dynamo did get an away goal from Sebsatian Kowalcyzk that makes the tie 2-1 in favor of CITY and gives the Dynamo a potential tiebreaking advantage. The winner of the aggregate scoreline will advance to the next round, to take on Columbus Crew. If the aggregate score is tied, the first tiebreaker is away goals. So, should the Dynamo win 1-0, the aggregate score would finish 2-2 but the Dynamo would have one away goal to St. Louis’ zero. The same can go for St. Louis tonight as well though, if they were to lose 3-2 to the Dynamo, making the score 4-4 on aggregate, they would advance on away goals with two to the Dynamo’s one. Confused yet? We created this graphic below to help you see who advances with potential scores.
Rotating the lineup
It’s still early in the season and the Dynamo will be playing their third match tonight in just 8 days. Head coach Ben Olsen admitted yesterday that he would need to rotate players in the lineup for this second leg, saying it was unfair to ask players to play this much, so early in the season as they are still working on fitness. The potential problem with that idea, the Dynamo don’t have a lot of depth right now. The depth they do have is mostly very young and inexperienced, and tonight is a tournament knock out match. Saturday’s goal scorer Gabe Segal could start, and veterans Daniel Steres and Jan Gregus could be put into the lineup. Amine Bassi and Franco Escobar were back at training this week, so we’ll see tonight if they are ready for game action. Olsen faces a tough task early in the season of keeping his players fresh while also trying to advance in the Champions Cup.
Defensive breakdowns
The Dynamo have conceded three goals in their two games this season. St. Louis’ opener came off a well-worked set piece. The second goal they scored game off Brooklyn Raines losing position in the Houston box. The goal Kansas City scored saw Erik Thommy run all the way from midfield with the ball without being challenged. Two, or you could argue all three, came from mistakes by the Dynamo. It’s still early in the season so mistakes are going to happen, especially with so many starters out, but they need to get them cleaned up. Houston must score tonight if they want to advance, but they also would be keen to keep St. Louis off the score sheet. 1-0 isn’t always pretty but it will get the job done in the wee hours of this evening.
Houston Dynamo – no report
St. Louis CITY SC – no report
Predicted Lineup
