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Houston Dynamo FC

Game Notes: Houston Dynamo vs. New York City FC - Friday, May 25 - 7:55 p.m. CDT

May 22, 2018 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Houston Dynamo FC News Release


HOUSTON - Coming off of their first road win of the season last Sunday at Chicago, and riding a two-game home winning streak, the Houston Dynamo will look to build on that positive momentum as they host a high-flying New York City FC side on Friday night. Houston will be looking for their first-ever win over New York (0-1-2 all-time). City are the only MLS club that the Dynamo have never beaten.

Friday's game will be a match of two of the league's most potent attacks, as the Dynamo rank second in scoring at 2.30 goals per game while City are fifth at 2.08 per game. Houston is led by the forward trio of Alberth Elis (6 goals, 5 assists), Mauro Manotas (5 goals) and Romell Quioto (3 goals, 4 assists), while New York are led by Spanish legend David Villa (7 goals, 3 assists).

Villa recently netted his 400th career goal for club and country, making him one of five active players in the world to hit that milestone, then immediately went to work on 500 with a pair of goals last weekend in a 4-0 win over Colorado. Helping set him up for scoring chances is a task that frequently falls to midfielders Maxi Moralez (4 assists) and Jesus Medina (5 assists).

Meanwhile for Houston, Elis has blossomed into one of the league's most dangerous attacking threats in his second year, with his 11 combined goals and assists ranking third league-wide. He's contributed a goal or an assist in eight of the Dynamo's 10 games thus far. Not to be outdone, Quioto has been on a rampage in the last five weeks, having contributed to 10 of the club's 15 goals since mid-April; and Manotas has averaged better than a goal every other game since September of 2016, including five in 10 games this year.

And much like New York with Moralez, the fulcrum for Houston's attack is frequently a diminutive Argentine No. 10. Tomás Martínez joined the Dynamo in the summer transfer window a year ago and has quickly adapted to MLS, with four goals and four assists in just 18 games so far. His average of 0.61 goals plus assists per 90 minutes actually exceeds that of Moralez, who is averaging 0.58 per 90 minutes since moving to New York prior to last season.

While the attackers get the headlines, a key to victory for both teams will be the play of young defenders. For Houston, 21-year-old center back Alejandro Fuenmayor is growing more comfortable by the game, having started the last four and six of the last seven. On the other side, it's a former Dynamo Academy star in 26-year-old Sebastien Ibeagha, who has started three of New York's last four matches.

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