Washington, D.C. (SportsNetwork.com) - RFK Stadium will host a crucial Eastern Conference tilt on Wednesday as D.C. United gets set to host to the Houston Dynamo.
The two sides enter the match separated by just two points in the East table as Houston's run of three wins in four has lifted the club to 17 points on the season.
United, meanwhile, has lost just once in its last eight league outings to put the club two points back of Houston, though it has played two fewer games than the Dynamo.
D.C. has produced an impressive home record thus far, winning three and drawing two since falling to the Columbus Crew on opening day at RFK.
"I think any time we play at home we want to win, so it's pretty disappointing," defender Bobby Boswell said of United's 1-1 home draw with the Montreal Impact on Saturday. "You know, we wanted to come out and really get all over them. I don't think our start was too pleasing for ourselves."
While D.C. was not pleased with the overall result, head coach Ben Olsen was pleased to see striker Eddie Johnson break his scoring drought with a late equalizer.
"It's good for him to score a goal," Olsen said. "Again, he's in so many good spots - we've let him down a lot with lack of service, lack of quality of service. He knows what to do in the six-yard box when a ball is delivered properly. We just need to continue getting him that type of service and he'll keep getting on the board."
Houston will look to contain Johnson and company, a potentially daunting task given that the club tends to leak goals in bunches.
The Dynamo have conceded four or more goals in a match three times this season, most recently in a 5-2 home defeat to Real Salt Lake on May 11.
Still, the club managed to rebound last time out by keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy.
"Really happy, great three points, great bounce back from last week," said Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear. "... Love watching them win games, especially at home in front of a great crowd. To put the work in, like I said it was a great answer to walk off the field from last week."
It was Tally Hall's fifth shutout of the season, tying him with Sporting Kansas City's Eric Kronberg for the league-lead.
According to Dynamo defender David Horst, the players in the defensive unit must continue to impose themselves on opposing strikers.
"I think L.A. was afraid of us imposing our will on their forwards. I thought Jermaine (Taylor) and I did a great job, because those forwards didn't end the game with them," Horst said. "Hopefully that's what we can keep doing is imposing our will on other team's offenses, and keep zeros in the back. That's all we can do as a defense."
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