Sep 14, 2007, 21:49 GMT
Carson, CA - Houston and Los Angeles, which are owned by the same company, AEG, are two teams on the opposite side of the spectrum.
The Dynamo are second in the Western table and are built around a gritty defensive backline and skill up the middle. The Galaxy are last in the Western table, and are built around the flashy form of superstars David Beckham and Landon Donovan.
The two clubs meet Sunday in a Major League Soccer clash at The Home Depot Center.
L.A. is coming off a 3-0 loss to CD Chivas USA Thursday night in which it lost its first Super Clasico title to the upstart Goats.
'I'm just incredibly disappointed. Anytime we face Chivas where we don't walk away with three points is a disappointment,' Galaxy midfielder Kyle Martino said. 'To feel like we had a lot of the run of the play and not capitalize on chances where we could have put some pressure on them adds to that disappointment.'
Ante Razov scored early in the first half for Chivas before Francisco Mendoza and Laurent Merlin added two late goals.
'I thought we played well for the most part, but we're still naive in certain parts of the field,' Donovan said. 'I think Chivas has done that all year. They wait for you to make that mistake and then they make you pay. I thought we played well overall, but we still have a lot to learn.'
Not only did the Galaxy lose the Super Clasico, but their slim playoff hopes took a major hit with the loss on Thursday. They are currently 12 points out of the final spot with just nine games left.
'We needed to get three points tonight, obviously,' galaxy coach Frank Yallop said. 'It's been a long year to be honest. It's been like this from the start if you like. We're going to keep going until we're out of it.'
Houston is coming off a 4-3 win over Real Salt Lake last Sunday in which forward Nate Jaqua scored a hat trick in the win.
'It feels great. It's even better since we got the win,' Jaqua said. 'We made it tough on ourselves at the end, but we were able to get out of there at the end. Getting the hat trick is neat. I'm happy to do that.'
The win extended the Dynamo unbeaten streak to four games, but the team has been anything but impressive in the stretch.
'It's three points - a much needed three points,' Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said.
The Dynamo need three points in Los Angeles Sunday to keep pace with surging CD Chivas USA, which took over the top spot in the West with the win over the Galaxy Thursday. The team can clinch a spot in the '07 playoffs with a win, a Columbus loss and a Colorado loss.
After Sunday's league fixture, Houston plays at Western rival Dallas on Sept. 30 and L.A. plays at RSL Wednesday.
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