It's two poor results out of two for MLS sides in the semifinals of the Champions Cup after Houston could only manage a 0-0 draw with Saprissa on Wednesday night at Robertson Stadium.

Like United, the Dynamo faces a steep challenge to make the final needing an away result in Costa Rica. Houston generated significant pressure but lacked the quality to finish off moves that deserved goals, not near misses. Good performances around the pitch for Houston, particularly Caraccio, who looked to settle in nicely, Ashe, and Clark, but they needed goals.

It wasn't for a lack of chances. Brian Ching had a couple of good opportunities in the first half, and Ashe could have done a bit better with his chance on the stroke of halftime. Caraccio's lunging effort on 64 minutes almost dipped under the bar while Navas did well to cut the angle a minute later. Ching then should have done better with another Ashe cross before heading over when he should have scored in injury time

(Note: I'm of two minds about Ching lately. His buildup play has been fantastic in the games I've seen, but the finishing has bordered on woeful. Is a player like that still considered out of form?)

But it's the openings in the Dynamo defense that continue to worry. At one point, I counted a 4v2 after the Dynamo defense parted like the Red Sea. Boswell stepped unconvincingly and Robinson had cheated too far to Barrett's side. The gap would have been exploited but for a terrible pass.

It wasn't a problem on this night; Saprissa attacked occasionally in the first half and was under the cosh far too much of the second to get forward. But the softness that Houston displayed on Saturday hasn't gone away, even with Ianni in the back.

Tough to see the Dynamo getting a result at Saprissa. That place is a cauldron. We'll see if the Dynamo has it in them. Perhaps a 0-0 draw is the desired result.

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One note to the PbP announcer: Do your research.

I can live with the mistakes if they're about Saprissa. That's not a team you see that often. The Dynamo ones, I cannot.

Joseph Ngwenya's not playing in Germany (he's with Karnten in Austria; he trialled with Alemannia Aachen of the 2.Bundesliga and missed out on a deal) and Nate Jaqua isn't in the Austrian second division (Cashpoint Altach may have a terrible name, but they're in the Austrian first division, above Karnten and outside the relegation zone).

It's a harder job than most people assume, and most of the criticism levelled against MLS (and FSC) announcers is relatively unfair considering how difficult the job is. However, the job gets a lot easier if you do the research on the little things. Other things are outside of your control. Research is firmly within it.