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After a 1-1 draw in the season opener last week, the Dynamo make their first road trip of 2020 to take on Sporting Kansas City at 7:30 PM central time tonight. Can the Dynamo begin to find success on the road under a new head coach or will the road woes of the past rear their ugly heads again? Here are three things to watch tonight.
Another Mexican Goal Scorer
The Dynamo were able to keep Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez off the score sheet last week but now they face another test from a goal scoring Mexican. Sporting Kansas City splashed big cash this offseason on Alan Pulido and he showed immediate dividends, scoring in his debut last week. Pulido joined Kansas City in the offseason as a designated player after he claimed the Golden Boot with Chivas de Guadalajara during the 2019 LigaMX Apertura. Maynor Figueroa and Kiki Struna will have another challenge on their hands tonight. Pulido is very busy in the box and he loves to get on the end of service from his teammates. If the Dynamo can keep Pulido bottled up, they will have a good shot of leaving Kansas City with a point or more.
Mauro Goes for 50
With his goal against LA Galaxy last week Mauro Manotas now sits at 49 goals in MLS regular season play with the Dynamo. A goal tonight would give Manotas his 50th goal and tie him with Will Bruin for the second most by a Houston player. Next in Mauro’s sights? The club record of 56 goals in regular season play by legend Brian Ching. With the statuses of Darwin Quintero and Alberth Elis still unknown, it will be up to Manotas to shoulder the goal scoring burden for the Dynamo in their first road match this season.
Road Woes
If you’ve watched the Dynamo the last few years you know they have been dreadful over the last few years. The Dynamo have won more than 5 road games just once in their entire existence as a MLS team. Once. That was in 2007 when they won their second straight MLS Cup. The MLS Cup runner up teams of 2011 and 2012 won a combined 5 over those 2 seasons. From 2015 to 2017, a combined 5 road wins. And the last two years, well they’ve been just as bad with just 2 wins away from Houston in each season. So, things have to change if this team is going to take the next steps and become a playoff contender again. Tab Ramos gets his first shot to rid the demons tonight.