Houston Dynamo coach Ben Olsen wants a sharper final third when his team hosts the Colorado Rapids on Saturday. Houston is 4-5-0 with 12 points, and Olsen said the club has been too blunt in attack after a 2-0 loss to Austin last weekend.
Houston did hold 53.9% of the possession in that defeat, but it produced little that troubled Austin for long. Before that, the Dynamo had won two straight matches by 1-0 scores, a stretch that masked an attack that has been outscored 18-12 this season. Guilherme Augusto has still driven the group with five goals and four assists, but Olsen said his team must be more patient, more balanced and better in the final third.
The Rapids arrive with the same kind of urgency. Colorado is 4-5-1 with 13 points and lost 3-1 to the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, with Rafael Navarro scoring the club’s lone goal. Navarro leads Colorado with seven goals and four assists and has put 19 shots on target, while his goal against Vancouver was his 50th regular-season goal contribution in his fourth year with the club. He became the eighth Colorado player to reach that mark.
Colorado defender Keegan Rosenberry said the Rapids have to start faster. He said the team needs to show up as itself from the first whistle and meet the demands of the game with more bravery. Coach Matt Wells was even blunter, saying Colorado has to do the necessary dirty work to win games and that its football warrants it.
The matchup carries a recent split that has already swung hard in both directions. Colorado beat Houston 6-2 at home on April 11 in the first meeting between the teams, with Kosi Thompson and Navarro each scoring a brace. Houston answered later with a 1-0 win, and Lawrence Ennali scored the go-ahead goal in the 72nd minute after Guilherme delivered an in-swinging corner.
That leaves both teams standing at a familiar crossroads: close enough in the table to see each other clearly, but still searching for a win that changes the tone of the month. Houston needs cleaner finishing. Colorado needs a better start. On Saturday, the first team to do both should leave with more than just a point in the standings.