Saturday's scoreless draw at BBVA Compass Stadium was what folks have come to expect from a Sporting Kansas City / Houston Dynamo match; a physical affair between two sides that are not ready to see their season end. In four matches this season, the two teams have scored a total of three goals, with two of those matches having finished 0-0.
"Definitely not a pretty game for either team," Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes said after the match. "It was a game played between the boxes and it was a battle."
Despite the fact that only 23 fouls were called on Saturday - compard to the 33 that were called in their previous meeting - both teams are prepared to use this two-week break to heal their wounds from the match.
For the Houston Dynamo, that entails getting Ricardo Clark and Will Bruin back to health. Clark left mid-way through the first half with a leg injury and Bruin was subbed off after halftime. The Houston Chronicle's Jesus Ortiz reported after the match that Bruin had a boot on his left foot in the locker room. Both players have played key roles for the Dynamo in their run to the Eastern Conference Championship.
For Sporting KC, the onus will be on getting midfielder Lawrence Olum back to health. The Kenyan midfielder suffered a fractured fibula in the final minutes of a 2-1 loss to the New England Revolution in the first leg of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Prior to his injury, Olum had started five of six matches in all competitions and had scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union in the regular season finale.
In his place, Paulo Nagamura has returned to the starting lineup and has played 187 minutes in the past two matches. The Brazilian midfielder had been sidelined with an ankle injury since September, but has been a strong presence in the Sporting KC midfield over the past two matches. If Olum can return to health by the second leg on November 23, Vermes will have ample options in his midfield against what should be a rested Dynamo side.
Sporting KC goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen and Aurelien Collin also picked up knocks in the first leg, but neither expects it to be an issue moving forward.
"I’m okay. I’m good," Collin said after the match. "A beat of the nose, the back of the head, the side of the head. When I come to Houston it’s always like that so I’m used to it."
The decisive match at Sporting Park kicks off at 6:30 p.m. and can be seen the NBC Sports Network. Although the match is sold out, a limited number of Standing Room Only tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com.
