Who: FC Dallas v. Houston Dynamo When: Saturday, May 17 @ 7:30 pm CDT Where: Toyota Stadium; Frisco, TX Records: FC Dallas (4-4-4), 10th, MLS West Houston Dynamo (3-6-4), 12th, MLS West TV: MLS Season Pass Radio: Local Stream via Apple(English)/93.3 (Spanish) This is the 14th regular season game of 2025 for Houston and the 13th for Dallas. You can watch this game on MLS Season Pass. The Dynamo lost at home, 1-2, in the first meeting this year. The last trip up to Frisco was a 2-0 loss in April of 2024. This will complete the regular season series this year. This game counts for the cannon. The Dynamo need to win by 2 goals to reclaim El Capitan. A one goal win would likely mean FCD keeps it unless the teams meet in some other competition this year. (Goals scored is not a tie-breaker.) The result also counts for the 2025 Copa Tejas. Dallas is 1-2-2 in their last 5 games in MLS, scoring 5 goals and allowing 10. 4 of those goals were against Miami. Their most recent league game was a home draw, 1-1, against RSL on May 10. Dallas is 1-3-1 in home regular season league games so far this year. They will next travel to NY Red Bulls in the Open Cup on Wednesday, May 21, and then to Seattle in MLS action on May 24. The Dynamo are 2-2-1 in the last five MLS games, scoring 7 goals and allowing 7. Houston is 0-2-3 in away regular season games so far this year. The Dynamo next travel to Austin in the Open Cup on Wednesday, May 21, and then travel to San Jose on May 24 and NYCFC on May 28 before returning home to host Kansas City on May 31.
Dynamo @ FC Dallas, all-time: 05/13/06 FCD 1-1 HOU 09/02/06 FCD 1-0 HOU 06/30/07 FCD 0-0 HOU 09/30/07 FCD 0-3 HOU 10/27/07 FCD 1-0 HOU, MLS Playoffs 05/28/08 FCD 2-2 HOU 06/13/09 FCD 1-3 HOU 08/06/09 FCD 1-0 HOU 03/27/10 FCD 1-1 HOU 09/24/11 FCD 0-1 HOU 03/17/13 FCD 3-2 HOU 06/12/13 FCD 3-0 HOU, U.S. Open Cup 06/26/15 FCD 2-0 HOU 10/04/15 FCD 4-1 HOU 06/02/16 FCD 1-1 HOU 05/28/17 FCD 0-0 HOU 08/23/17 FCD 3-3 HOU 09/01/18 FCD 4-2 HOUd 08/24/19 FCD 5-1 HOU 09/12/20 FCD 2-1 HOU 10/31/20 FCD 3-0 HOU 05/08/21 FCD 1-1 HOU 04/23/22 FCD 2-1 HOU 05/20/23 FCD 1-1 HOU 04/27/24 FCD 2-0 HOU That's 3-13-9 overall with 25 goals scored and 44 allowed.
El Capitán standings, 8-11: 2006: HOU 2-1-1 2007: HOU 3-0-1 2008: FCD 0-0-3 (away goals 4-2) 2009: HOU 2-1-0 2010: FCD 1-0-1 2011: HOU 1-0-1 2012: HOU 1-0-0 2013: FCD 1-0-0 2014: FCD 1-0-0 2015: FCD 3-0-0 2016 HOU 1-1-1 (g.d. +3) 2017 HOU 0-0-3 (holder retains) 2018 FCD 1-0-2 2019 FCD 1-1-0 (g.d. +4) 2020 FCD 2-1-1 2021 HOU 1-0-2 2022 FCD 1-0-1 2023 FCD 0-0-2 (holder retains) 2024 FCD 1-0-1 Current El Capitán criteria: 1. Head-to-head regular season series (W-L-T) 2. Head-to-head goal differential in regular season series 3. Result of MLS playoff series (if applicable) 4. Result of CONCACAF Champions League series (if applicable) 5. Result of Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match (if applicable) 6. Holder retains trophy
2024 Copa Tejas D1 standings: 1. Dallas 1 g.p. 3 pts 2. Houston 2 g.p. 3 pts 1. Austin 1 g.p. 0 pts Remaining games: 5/17/25 - FCD v. HOU 8/9/25 - AUS v. HOU 8/16/25 - AUS v. FCD 9/13/25 - FCD v. AUS Previous Winners 2021: Dallas 2022: Austin 2023: Austin 2024: Dallas 2025 Copa Shield Standings (thru May 14): This is based on regular season results: 1. San Antonio FC 9 g.p. 16 pts 1.78 PPG 2. Dallas Trinity FC 26 g.p. 40 pts 1.54 PPG 3. El Paso Locomotive 9 g.p 13 pts 1.44 PPG 4. FC Dallas 12 g.p. 16 pts 1.33 PPG 5. Austin FC 13 g.p. 17 pts 1.31 PPG 6. Houston Dash 8 g.p. 10 pts 1.25 PPG 7. Houston Dynamo 13 g.p. 13 pts 1.00 PG Previous Winners 2019: Austin Bold 2021: El Paso Locomotive 2022: San Antonio 2023: San Antonio 2024: Houston Dynamo
I say rest Ponce, Lingr, Artur, Urso, Jack, Dorsey. Save them for mid-week USOC. This team is never winning 2025 MLS cup -- the days of coming good in the second half of the season are long-gone. Prioritize the silverware we have the best shot at. I am under no pretension that Benny Onstad will agree.
I agree that BenyPat (i think i like Benny Onstad better) won't tank this game for the cup game. Interesting thought experiment as to if they should, but that's another tangent. I think the brain trust will view last night as a win over a top tier team, couple that with being "only" 10 points from second place, hold on to the dream of Enalli returning soon, bring that gumbo to a boil with the extra spice of a summer signing, and then keep going after league points as much as possible. Is the Dynamo having offseason success possible? Sure Probable? All signs point to no PS The amount of games we have left this month is certainly gonna dictate a lot of rest for players. This is gonna give us a good look at just how good leadership is at managing this type of challenge. I anticipate hearing Ben use the packed schedule as an excuse for poor performance more than once
To be fair, in the post-game presser Olsen acknowledged the amount of changes MNU made to their lineup. He said his team was short a few players as well, but basically acknowledged that it was a 2d choice team starting across the field. To further be fair, Olsen has on several occasions mentioned the busy May, said it was a good challenge and said he actually likes it, thinks it should be manageable and made plenty of statements that are completely contrary to using it as an excuse for any poor play. If he does that he will be publicly contradicting himself. In my view, if the Technical Staff talks with the reality that I do -- emphasizing the depth of the hole they are in -- I would want them fired. They SHOULD focus on hope, positivity and not giving-up. I would hope that privately, in the deep seclusion of their staff meetings, they deal with reality and make the best decisions for long-term sustainable success. But they should never in front of the team or fans do anything but exactly what you said they will do.
A good coach imho, sets his best Starting XI for the very next game ahead of him on the calendar. Injuries and fatigue do play into the decision making but that is usually due to International call ups or lingering knocks form a long season. Not a month of May issues! To make no mention, this is our eternal rival, so defeating them, on the road no less, is priority numero uno!!! However, resting players ahead of perhaps a bigger fixture on the horizon is a real issue in contact sports. Also, what if the Open Cup fixture gets moved for some weather reason or the like. Then having rested players for the big Dallas game is a wash. If certain players need rest however, then do not start them and demand they go the full 90 on Saturday night.
UPDATED: El Capitán standings, 9-11: 2006: HOU 2-1-1 2007: HOU 3-0-1 2008: FCD 0-0-3 (away goals 4-2) 2009: HOU 2-1-0 2010: FCD 1-0-1 2011: HOU 1-0-1 2012: HOU 1-0-0 2013: FCD 1-0-0 2014: FCD 1-0-0 2015: FCD 3-0-0 2016 HOU 1-1-1 (g.d. +3) 2017 HOU 0-0-3 (holder retains) 2018 FCD 1-0-2 2019 FCD 1-1-0 (g.d. +4) 2020 FCD 2-1-1 2021 HOU 1-0-2 2022 FCD 1-0-1 2023 FCD 0-0-2 (holder retains) 2024 FCD 1-0-1 2025 HOU 1-1-0 (g.d. +1) Current El Capitán criteria: 1. Head-to-head regular season series (W-L-T) 2. Head-to-head goal differential in regular season series 3. Result of MLS playoff series (if applicable) 4. Result of CONCACAF Champions League series (if applicable) 5. Result of Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup match (if applicable) 6. Holder retains trophy
Always good to beat Frisco no matter the reason but to also bring the cannon back home is extra sweet. No Ponce was curious. Ben said he got a knock but to not even travel & be with the team is a curious decision. At least he'll be rested for Wednesday......TBD That shot from Jacky boy had smoke on it. Why would any team ever allow him to cut in and run along the line? Griffindor's goal was perfectly paced and placed--great shot as well and good to see him get back on the scoring sheet. Another clean sheet for us is a good sign. Especially with our back line being knitted together. Well done boys. Next league game in San Diego is gonna be a doozy
Given how well my call for the team to focus on the USOC game and rotate for the FCD game ... it is now my policy that the next game should always be so deprioritized in favor of the following game.