New York City v Houston Dynamo: Olsen says road stretch has brought growth

Houston Dynamo coach Ben Olsen believes his team have grown in personality on their recent road stretch, which they conclude against New York City on Wednesday.

The Dynamo are 10th in the Western Conference standings with 17 points from 15 games, just two points outside the play-in spots.

They will play their fourth straight road game in midweek, having beaten FC Dallas 2-0 and drawn 3-3 with the San Jose Earthquakes in MLS, either side of a U.S. Open Cup defeat to Austin FC.

They squandered a 2-0 lead against San Jose to trail 3-2, ultimately requiring a stoppage-time leveller from Griffin Dorsey to extend their unbeaten run to three MLS matches.

IT HAD TO BE GRIFFIN pic.twitter.com/ca6ZklfFYx

— Houston Dynamo FC (@HoustonDynamo) May 25, 2025

"We have a lot of guys that are out there growing. The team is growing in personality," Olsen told reporters after the San Jose game.

"To get something out of that game... we were excited to get a point but a little disappointed we didn't win.

"We've been on the road, this has been a test, it's been a real grind, coming here. 

"So to leave with a point, especially having been 3-2 down with the momentum on their side, that was pretty impressive from the guys." 

NYCFC, meanwhile, are sixth in the Eastern Conference after recovering from a goal down to beat the Chicago Fire, who finished with nine men, 3-1.

Coach Pascal Jansen was delighted with the way they made their numerical advantage count after Chicago had Brian Gutierrez received Chicago's first red card in the 31st minute.

"I'm very happy with the character we showed in the second half, though to be fair we made it very hard on ourselves," Jansen said.

"With the red card for the opponent we switched gear, and you could see once we had the equaliser that was when things started to settle down."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

New York City – Alonso Martinez 

Martinez scored from the penalty spot in New York City's win over Chicago on Sunday, his 12th goal in regular-season home matches since the start of July 2024.

That is the second-most home goals by any player in MLS in that time, after the Philadelphia Union's Tai Baribo (13).

Houston Dynamo – Griffin Dorsey 

Dorsey has recorded a goal and an assist in back-to-back matches for the Dynamo, including scoring the equaliser in stoppage time on Saturday. 

He is the third player in Dynamo history to post a goal and an assist in two straight league games, with only Alberth Elis in 2019 doing so in three in a row.

Another week, another 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙙𝙖𝙮 for Griff 

— Houston Dynamo FC (@HoustonDynamo) May 26, 2025

MATCH PREDICTION – NEW YORK CITY WIN

The six all-time meetings between New York City and Houston have been split, with each side winning twice each (D2). 

NYCFC are unbeaten in three home matches against the Dynamo, though they have only won one of them (D2).

Houston have lost just two of their last nine regular-season matches (W4 D3) after coming from behind to draw in their six-goal thriller against San Jose last time out. 

The Dynamo have found the net multiple times in each of their last three games (W2 D1), but they enter this one as outsiders.

NYCFC have won five of their last eight regular-season matches (D1 L2), including the last two in a row. They have conceded just four times over those eight games, keeping five clean sheets.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

New York City – 44.3%

Houston Dynamo – 28.8%

Draw – 26.8%