Houston Dynamo vs Philadelphia Union Match Preview
The Houston Dynamo will be defending a 2-1 aggregate lead when they host the Philadelphia Union in an Eastern Conference semi-final second leg.
Union striker Sebastien Le Toux cancelled out Andre Hainault’s opener in the first leg, before Calen Carr scored the winning goal for Houston before half-time.
Tally Hall will start in goal for Houston and recorded 10 saves in the first leg, a figure only two short of the all-time MLS playoff record.
Striker Cam Weaver is suffering with a hip injury for the Dynamo. First leg hero Carr is expected to be partnered in attack by veteran forward Brian Ching.
The Union will need to adopt an attacking approach due to their aggregate deficit, making Le Toux, Freddy Adu and Danny Mwanga key figures in this game.
“It may be good for this team to go into the second leg not feeling the pressure to defend a 1-1 tie or a 1-0 goal difference,” manager Peter Nowak told the official MLS website. “So it maybe is a good thing that the pressure is off right now and we have nothing to lose going into Houston.”
Thorne Holder and Levi Houapeu are sidelined with injury for Philadelphia, while Michael Farfan (foot) and Veljko Paunovic (hamstring) are listed as questionable.
The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 at 8:30pm (Eastern Time) as the first half of a playoff double header.