Houston, TX – The Houston Dynamo made history the last time they stepped onto the pitch at BBVA Compass Stadium. When they return to their home field to face Sporting Kansas City on Sunday, they will be hopeful of building upon their unprecedented legacy.
Houston saw its home unbeaten streak extended to an MLS-record 30 matches with a 1-1 draw against the Colorado Rapids on April 28. The Dynamo will hope to extend that record on Sunday against Sporting, match that will pit two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference against one another.
The two sides came into their respective mid-week matches ensconced in a four- way tie along with Red Bull New York and the Montreal Impact for top spot in the East, but only two teams were level atop the table by the end of the night as only Houston and New York claimed maximum points.
The Dynamo took three points from Wednesday's match in substantial style, running out at RFK Stadium to a convincing 4-0 victory over lowly D.C. United.
Will Bruin played a starring role in the affair by lending a hand in all four goals, scoring twice and adding two assists.
The victory extended Houston's unbeaten run to five games with the club taking 11 points over that stretch.
Sporting, by comparison, enjoyed an encouraging start to the season, but losing three of its last four league matches has seen the club fall out of pole position. The club most recently suffered a debilitating 1-0 home defeat to Seattle Sounders FC with the lone goal coming in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Even with the late dagger, Sporting head coach Peter Vermes did shed some light on the positive moments of note.
"The great thing is, we played very well," Vermes said. "Again having to change the lineup based on a short turn around given that we played Sunday and they played Saturday. I thought we did a good job and we had good run of play.
"I thought the second half we got a little tired in the middle of the park it was hard to make subs based on what we needed. The first half I thought we created a lot of good chances in and around the box and I thought we dictated play."
Houston has posted two consecutive clean sheets, placing a bit of added pressure on Sporting to produce the goods up front.
In order to do so, the club is likely to rely upon Claudio Bieler and Graham Zusi. Bieler is tied with Mike Magee and Jack McInerney for the MLS scoring lead with six goals on the season while Zusi's four assists put him level with Joao Plata for most in the league.
If Kei Kamara, who recently returned from a loan spell at Norwich City, can add an additional scoring threat, Houston's home unbeaten spell could come under serious threat.
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