Chivas USA/Houston Dynamo Preview

Two teams riding winning streaks will do battle on MLS Primetime Thursday as Chivas USA travels to the Lone Star State for a Western Conference clash against the Houston Dynamo.

The Men in Orange picked up maximum points from their three games last week, defeating FC Dallas, Colorado and Columbus in a seven-day span to move into third-place in the conference. With a win in Thursday’s game, Houston would leapfrog over Chivas and into second place - but they’ll have to do it without Brian Ching, Dwayne De Rosario, Ricardo Clark and Pat Onstad, who are all still away with their respective national teams in the Gold Cup.

Chivas has also been riding high lately, winners of three straight and unbeaten in their last five contests, stretching back to the first week of May. If Preki’s club can come out of Houston with a victory, Chivas USA would set a club record for the longest winning streak in their brief history. They would also move within striking distance of FC Dallas for the West lead, even though FCD has several more games in hand.

In the first meeting between these clubs in 2007, Houston came away with a 1-0 victory on April 14th, with Brian Ching’s header in the 65th minute being the difference. The Dynamo have compiled an all-time record of 2-0-1 against Chivas in Robertson Stadium and eliminated Chivas from the playoffs last season with a 2-0 victory in the second-leg of the semifinals.

Leading Houston’s offensive resurgence has been Joseph Ngwenya. A native of Plumtree Zimbabwe, Ngwenya has notched goals in three straight games since arriving from Columbus, including the game-winner against FC Dallas. With three goals, he is tied with De Rosario for the team lead in that category.

Chivas USA’s climb up the ladder has been led by Maykel Galindo. The Cuban defector has tallied six goals and three assists in 10 games, placing him near the front in the race for the 2007 Golden Boot. On the other end of the field, Brad Guzan continues to show why he is getting calls from Bob Bradley to play on the national team. His 0.80 GAA and five shutouts make him the league-leader in both statistics.

Interesting stat: Ante Razov has taken 40 shots on the season, behind only New England’s Taylor Twellman (41).


Chivas USA (5-3-2) @ Houston Dynamo (5-5-1)
ESPN 2 - 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT