Eye season sweep of Houston Dynamo vs. Portland Timbers

The game: Houston Dynamo (6-6-3) vs. Portland Timbers (5-7-4)
When or: 9:30 p.m. Saturday; Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.
How to watch/listen: Apple TV MLS Season Pass; 93.3 FM (Spanish)

Dynamo are in fine form after scoring three goals for the first time this MLS season in a 3-1 win over Colorado on Wednesday to end a three-game winless streak under assistant coach Juan Guerra. On top of that, backup goaltender Andrew Tarbell replaced injured starter Steve Clark, who is out with a broken nose. Tarbell made 10 saves to tie Pat Onstad, now the team’s general manager, for the most regular-season saves in club history. Tarbell’s effort earned MLSSoccer.com Team of the Day honors alongside midfielder Amine Bassi, who was joined by Latif Blessing and Sebastian Kowalczyk on the scoresheet. Head coach Ben Olsen, returning from a one-match suspension, and Dynamo could enter the next FIFA window with momentum. Houston, eighth in the Western Conference standings with 21 points, will aim for a fourth straight victory against Portland, which sits ninth in the standings with 19 points. Dynamo beat the visiting Timbers 1-0 on March 16 for one of three clean sheets this season and are seeking their second straight regular season sweep.

Blessing scored a volley for the go-ahead goal against Colorado, extending his scoring streak to two games and tying Kowalczyk and Bassi for second-most goals on the team with two. The midfielder found the net for the first time this season in the US Open Cup round of 16 loss to Detroit City FC on May 7 to end a two-season goalless streak with LAFC (2022), New England Revolution (2023). and Toronto FC (2023). The 27-year-old showed what he could do before, scoring a career-high six goals with six assists for Los Angeles FC in 2019. He totaled 23 goals in two seasons with the club after finishing with five goals and six assists the previous year. Evander and Felipe Mora lead the Timbers with seven goals each and Jonathan Rodríguez follows with six, two more than Dynamo’s top scorer Ibrahim Aliyu.