As the clock ticks toward the end of the MLS regular season next month, the Houston Dynamo head to Commerce City, Colo., on Saturday night to try to jump into a playoff position over the Colorado Rapids.
With five matches remaining, the Dynamo (8-12-9, 33 points) sit in 10th place — but just three points behind the seventh-place Rapids (10-13-6, 36 points). Houston holds the first tiebreaker with a plus-1 goal differential. Nine teams from each conference qualify for the postseason.
“We understand the importance of this next match and the opportunity it will present,” Houston head coach Ben Olsen said. “This is never going to be easy and one point at a time. Hopefully we can go there and continue some of our away form and, if we do the job there, you know again we’re still in this conversation.”
After Ezequiel Ponce scored a 35th-minute breakaway goal last Saturday when he cradled a pass from Ondrej Lingr and slotted it into the left corner of the net, Houston held a lead until the ninth minute of second-half stoppage time. That’s when the L.A. Galaxy’s Lucas Sanabria stole two points with a match-tying goal in Houston.
Meanwhile, the Rapids are on a two-match losing streak, falling 7-2 to the Galaxy on Aug. 23 and 4-2 to Sporting KC on Aug. 30. After going up 2-1 in the first 31 minutes on goals by Rafael Navarro and Keegan Rosenberry, the Rapids gave up three Sporting KC goals in eight minutes to put in question their chances of holding onto a playoff position.
A key reinforcement is on the way in 22-year-old Alexis Manyoma, who was loaned by Argentina’s Estudiantes de La Plata to the Rapids on Aug. 8 but didn’t join training until his work visa was approved on Sept. 4.
“He has quality,” head coach Chris Armas said. “We think he’s a really good fit from a style of play. He’s an explosive winger. He’s an aggressive winger. He loves defending and he’s a good character. So we’re so happy that he’s here and that we still have time in the season. So we feel like we’re getting stronger with Alexis.”
The last time the two sides played, Lingr scored in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage to lift the host Dynamo to a 2-2 draw on April 19.
–Field Level Media
