Chicago Fire at Houston Dynamo - MLS #31 - 3:00 PM CST - Telefutura
by Tweed Thornton on Oct 1, 2011 12:35 PM CDT
in Fire Previews & Recaps
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Dominic Oduro returns to Robertson Stadium this afternoon. The last time he was here, he missed a wide open opportunity and the Houston Dynamo fans booed him out of town. Literally. Dynamo management traded him to Chicago despite signing Oduro to a new contract just three weeks earlier. That miss might have been the best thing to happen to the Fire all season. More on the game after the break.
Eastern Conference Standings
| Team | PTS | GP | GD |
| Sporting KC | 44 | 31 | 7 |
| Philadelphia Union | 43 | 30 | 7 |
| Houston Dynamo | 42 | 31 | 0 |
| Columbus Crew | 41 | 31 | -4 |
| New York Red Bulls | 39 | 30 | 5 |
| D.C. United | 38 | 29 | 1 |
| Chicago Fire | 36 | 30 | 0 |
| Toronto FC | 30 | 31 | -23 |
| New England Revolution | 22 | 29 | -15 |
Wild Card Race
| Team | PTS | GP | GD |
| FC Dallas | 46 | 30 | 3 |
| Colorado Rapids | 42 | 31 | 1 |
| Columbus Crew | 41 | 31 | -4 |
| New York Red Bulls | 39 | 30 | 5 |
| D.C. United | 38 | 30 | 1 |
| Portland Timbers | 37 | 30 | -7 |
| Chicago Fire | 36 | 30 | 0 |
Teams in bold would qualify for the playoffs if the playoffs began today
Key Matches to Watch
October 1st
Toronto FC vs. New York Red Bulls - 6:30 PM CST - Fox Soccer Channel
Colorado vs. FC Dallas - 8:00 PM CST
San Jose vs. Sporting KC - 9:30 PM CST
October 2nd
Columbus Crew vs. D.C. United - 3:00 PM CST
Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Portland Timbers - 3:30 PM CST
Chivas USA vs. Philadelphia Union - 7:00 PM CST
The Fire will remain in the playoff hunt as long as the other teams in the Eastern Conference and Wild Card races refuse to take advantage of their positions. While the Fire have been red hot, other teams have been sputtering, treading water, or in full free falls. Sporting KC has been playing very well so this is highly unlikely but the math exists for the Fire to claim the Eastern Conference title if everything fell into place.
The Fire can do a lot for their cause by winning or even taking a draw out of Houston. Dynamo are 9-3-3 at home but 1-6-9 on the road. Their remaining two games after playing Chicago are Portland on the road and the Los Angeles Galaxy at home. Those are two of the toughest matchups in MLS right now. It's quite likely Houston finishes the year with 42/43/44 points. Normally a coach would be fired for not playing a full lineup for this match but Frank Klopas' hands are tied by the U.S. Open Cup Final on Tuesday. Certainly a 'problem' I would take any Tuesday of the year.
One of the main Fire weaknesses at this point in the season is depth. It would be a major blow if Cory Gibbs, Pavel Pardo, or Dominic Oduro got hurt before the big game. Sebastian Grazzini is still listed as Questionable on the MLS Injury Report. Don't be surprised to see players like Diego Chaves, Orr Barouch or Baggio Husidic back in starting action. They will need to pick up their individual play to get a result. Houston is 9-3-3 at Robertson Stadium this year.
Houston's goaltender Tally Hall is really blossoming and proving to be a worthy successor to Pat Ondstad. Brad Davis has a career high in assists (14) and is a fringe MVP candidate. On an ex-Fire note, Calen Carr has been healthy for about a month now and has 1 goal in 193 minutes. I expect both Carr and Oduro to at least be used as substitutes.
Given the playoffs fight, Houston's home advantage and the Fire playing back with Tuesday in mind, I'm predicting a 1-1 draw and that might be generous for Chicago. It would be quite the achievement to walk out of this game being the 4th team out of 16 to get a win.
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Agreed Tweed, I would take a point...
if we somehow sneak out with all 3, that would be incredible. A point is a must.
I wonder how Houston is feeling about that Oduro trade now? And damn you to hell Telefutura. It’s the only channel the game can be on that I can’t either watch it on tv or Matchday. Sigh, I shall have to turn to the wonderful world of internet to find a feed. Let’s go Men in Red (even though they will be wearing white today).
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Fire XI
Johnson; Videira, Anibaba, Gibbs, Segares; Pause ©, Husidic, Paladini, Bone; Chaves, Oduro
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Fire subs
Conway, Mikulic, Gargan, Pardo, Pappa, Nyarko, Barouch
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Houston XI
Hall; Hainault, Boswell, Cameron, Ashe; Clark, Camargo, Moffat, Davis; Ching, Costly
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Houston subs
Deric, Freeman, Taylor, Cruz, Watson, Bruin, Carr
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and we’re off in Houston
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20th minute, still no score.
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Colin Clark makes it 1-0 Houston on a Brad Davis corner kick.
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ODURO!
Goes over to the Houston fans and shushes them after scoring a great goal.
1-1 as we get towards halftime
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Halftime
still 1-1
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and we are off. No subs to start the half
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I hope Oduro is ok...
and how the hell was that not a penalty? The guy took Oduro down in the box, then grabbed the ball with his hands…
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ref has not been on the top of his game here
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by Tweed Thornton on Oct 1, 2011 4:26 PM CDT up reply actions
I am noticing that...
missing a lot of calls
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62 minutes have gone – still 1-1.
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Nyarko is looking good in the second half
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Does he have another look
: D
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by Tweed Thornton on Oct 1, 2011 4:30 PM CDT up reply actions
Good point...
Time for some Orr tho…try to pull a winner out
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Marco coming on...
c’mon Marco, win it for us!
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You have to feel bad for Houston. Home field. Player they traded scores on them. Pappa, Nyarko, and Pardo enter as subs.
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Yikes, Carr almost made his old team pay there
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Damn it...
Gibbs had a great look there
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SJ has been huge today
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run into Sean Johnson with the momentum and still fall on your ass. Talk about a wall
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by Tweed Thornton on Oct 1, 2011 4:59 PM CDT up reply actions
Yep, SJ laid him out
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Good result overall...
on the road, in a tough place to play, with a weakened side…I will take the point. We are still in the thick of it. Can’t wait for Tuesday, you have no idea how badly I want us to completely destroy Seattle.
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