Surging Dynamo out to avoid letdown vs. last-place Sporting KC

The Houston Dynamo look to continue their rise up the Western Conference standings when they face Sporting Kansas City on Saturday in Kansas City, Kan.

The Dynamo (8-6-2, 26 points) rolled to a 3-0 home victory over Austin FC last Saturday and are tied for the fourth-most points in the conference with Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas.

Mateusz Bogusz scored twice for his third career MLS brace while sparking the Dynamo against Austin.

"He's a machine," Houston coach Ben Olsen said of Bogusz. "His output is pretty amazing, and he's up and back, and I'm so thrilled for him because he does so much."

Bogusz ranks second on the Dynamo with four goals, behind Guilherme's eight. Guilherme, an All-Star, contributed one goal and one assist in the win.

This is the teams' first meeting this season. Houston struggled against Sporting Kansas City last season, losing 3-1 at home in May and playing to a scoreless road tie in October.

But Sporting KC (4-11-2, 14 points) hasn't been strong all season and resides in last place in the Western Conference.

Last Saturday, Sporting KC was routed 4-0 by host Los Angeles FC. Denis Bouanga had two goals for LAFC and Sporting KC didn't have the firepower to match.

"I think it's just, in certain moments, decision-making," Sporting KC coach Raphael Wicky said of the effort. "I believe that we played, in possession, some really good sequences.

"We were good on the ball. We didn't create that much, but that's also not easy against them to be honest."

SKC played without forward Capita Capemba due to illness. He had one goal and one assist over Kansas City's previous two matches.

Star striker Dejan Joveljic had scored goals in the previous two games before the shutout. He leads Sporting KC with eight goals after a career-high 18 last year in his first campaign with SKC.

--Field Level Media