Houston Dynamo manager Ben Olsen returns to the club where he spent his entire MLS playing career and his first decade as a coach in Saturday’s visit to D.C. United.
But while the occasion has the potential for extra emotion, both teams will be looking to respond to frustrating results just three days prior.
Olsen’s Dynamo (6-6-6, 24 points) were thoroughly dominant against visiting Seattle for the first half on Wednesday but were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw after conceding twice in six minutes shortly after halftime.
Latif Blessing scored his fourth and fifth goals in the last five matches for the Dynamo, after arriving in an early season trade from Toronto FC.
But Houston earned only a third consecutive draw when a victory could’ve moved Olsen’s side as high as fifth in the Western Conference table.
“It is a disappointing result, and it’s happened too many times where we perform well and give away the points,” Olsen said. “We create chances, but then we let them back in the game with complacency. Getting one point has been a little bit of a recurring theme.”
That pattern would represent an improvement for current first-year D.C. United manager Troy Lesesne, whose side conceded late to Thiago Almada in a 1-0 home loss to Atlanta United on Wednesday night.
The Black-and-Red (4-8-7, 19 points) are winless with only two points taken from their last seven matches and became only the second team to lose at home to Atlanta this season after failing to capitalize on a dominant opening 35 minutes or so.
“Everyone is frustrated, that’s clear to see,” Lesesne said. “But at the same time, we’re not doing enough to earn ourselves points. … When you’re playing at home, you can’t allow a team to come into the game the way that they came into the game.”
Christian Benteke has gone three matches without adding to his total of 13 goals on the season. And D.C. simply hasn’t had enough secondary scorers to pick up the slack; No one else has more than two goals as part of D.C.’s 25 as a team.
–Field Level Media