The Houston Dynamo look to continue their momentum when they host the Columbus Crew on Wednesday.
It has been a busy but productive schedule for the Dynamo (10-10-5, 35 points) since Aug. 20 with MLS victories against Portland and Real Salt Lake and another victory over RSL in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup on Aug. 23.
With so many matches, Houston coach Ben Olsen will continue the rotation of his players against Columbus (12-7-6, 42 points).
“It creates depth. It helps camaraderie when everybody helps a little,” he said. “We want to keep it rolling right now.
“We still don’t have the luxury to not keep it rolling and have to put our best foot forward Wednesday against Columbus. They are a very good team. They are one of the better teams in the league right now so we’ll have our hands full, but it’s a matchup we’re looking forward to.”
The Crew have consecutive shutouts of FC Cincinnati and Toronto FC since resuming MLS play after the Leagues Cup.
Both of those victories were at home but the Crew are on the road, where they are 2-6-3, for the next three matches and six of the final nine.
Playing in sweltering Houston is not the ideal place to start but Crew coach Wilfried Nancy said jokingly that he found a way to prepare the team.
“We invited all the players to the jacuzzi of Bez just to get used to the hot weather,” he said, referring to Crew president and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko.
Nancy was in a good mood in part because Diego Rossi scored against Toronto in his first start for the Crew after playing the past two seasons in Turkey.
Rossi had 48 goals for Los Angeles FC from 2018-21.
“He’s a fantastic player,” Crew wingback Yaw Yeboah said. “We believe and know that he’s going to help us a lot. He’s going to score a lot of goals. We need to play like him: faster. He’s a good finisher. We’re so happy to have him.”
— Field Level Media
