Sporting Kansas City at Houston Dynamo FC
2022 MLS Regular Season | Match 30
Saturday, Sept. 10 | 7:30 p.m. CT (7:38 kickoff)
PNC Stadium | Houston, Texas
Local TV | 38 The Spot
Streaming | SportingKC.com, SKC App, ESPN+
English Radio | ESPN Kansas City 94.5 FM
Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM
Unbeaten in the club's past three matches, Sporting Kansas City will travel to Texas to play Houston Dynamo FC at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at PNC Stadium.
The Western Conference clash will be locally televised on 38 The Spot with three hours of coverage beginning at 7 p.m. CT. The broadcast will also stream live on SportingKC.com and in the Sporting KC app for viewers in Kansas and Missouri (excluding the St. Louis area per MLS policy), as well as ESPN+ for out-of-market subscribers. Sporting KC Pub Partners across the Midwest will be showing the match and radio coverage will air live on ESPN Kansas City 94.5 FM and La Grande 1340 AM.
With one month remaining in the MLS regular season, Sporting Kansas City and Houston Dynamo FC will both be aiming to stave off elimination from the race for a place in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Sporting, currently 12th in the West with 30 points, has reached the postseason in 10 of the last 11 seasons however Houston, in 14th place with 29 points, has missed the playoffs since 2018.
Over the last five seasons, Houston have lost a league-worst 76 regular season matches (40-76-38) and on Monday the club parted ways with first-year head coach Paulo Nagamura along with assistants Jimmy Nielsen and Chris Martinez after a 2-1 loss at CCL champions Seattle Sounders. Houston Dynamo 2 manager Kenny Bundy will serve as an interim head coach on Saturday at PNC Stadium, where the Dynamo defeated Supporters' Shield leaders LAFC in their last home match on Aug. 31.
Paraguayan striker Sebastian Ferreira leads Houston with 10 goals in his first MLS campaign, including goals in his last two appearances at PNC Stadium. In addition, creative playmaker Darwin Quintero has contributed seven goals and four assists to give the 34-year-old Colombian 38 goals and 36 assists in the regular season since arriving in MLS in 2018.
The Dynamo have also added 32-year-old Mexican midfielder Hector Herrera, who won La Liga in 2021 with Atletico Madrid and was the Golden Ball recipient as the top player at the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup. Herrera has missed the club's last three matches however and is listed as questionable on the team's player availability report with a right leg injury.
Dynamo defenders Daniel Steres (right arm) and Griffin Dorsey (suspension) will miss Saturday's match, while midfielder Memo Rodriguez (left leg) is questionable to participate. Sporting Kansas City outside backs Ben Sweat (back) and Graham Zusi (quad) are also questionable as Manager Peter Vermes remains without Alan Pulido (knee), Gadi Kinda (knee), Tim Melia (hamstring) and Kortne Ford (suspension).
Sporting earned a 1-0 victory over Houston in the team's home opener on March 5 - courtesy of Remi Walter's second-half strike - and, most recently, prevailed 2-1 in a come-from-behind victory against the Dynamo in the U.S. Open Cup on May 25 thanks to a Johnny Russell brace. Walter, the only SKC player to start in all 29 MLS matches this year, ranks third in MLS in distance covered (195.1 miles) and third among field players in recoveries (214). Russell, who scored Sporting's equalizer in a 2-2 draw at the LA Galaxy last weekend, has moved into third in club history with 53 career goals in all competitions - seven of which have come in his 12 appearances against Houston.
Sporting has faced Houston 41 times in all competitions since 2011, more than any other opponent, and the all-time regular season series is evenly split through 39 meetings with both teams going 13-13-13 with 54 goals apiece. Sporting KC has won three straight MLS match-ups with the Dynamo which marks the first three-game winning streak by either team in the series.
Sporting are amidst a strong run of form entering Saturday's contest with the best winning percentage in the Western Conference since the start of August (3-1-1, .700). Sporting are averaging 2.8 goals during that stretch, which is second best in MLS behind Philadelphia, with newcomer Willy Agada becoming one of only three players in club history to record seven goal contributions in his first seven MLS regular season matches.
Following Saturday's match, The Final Whistle postgame show will air on ESPN 94.5 FM with hosts Chad Reynolds and Dave Borchardt. Listeners can tune in via the Sporting KC mobile app or online at 810WHB.com.
