Dallas

CREDIBLE DRAW

admin

FC Dallas was not given much of an opportunity against Seattle Sounders in the MLS cup semifinals, but the secured a credible 1-1 draw against one of the top teams in the country. Dallas played extremely well and head coach Oscar Pareja was disappointed not to have come away with a victory that would have given his team a major boost ahead of the second leg next week. Michel’s penalty in the 34th minute gave Dallas the lead and they looked like holding on for a famous win. However, Alonso scored the equaliser in the second half to give Seattle Sounders a fighting chance in the second leg.

Dallas’ biggest work in the match came in their efforts to curb the potent strikeforce that included Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins. They managed to do it to great extent, but Alonso’s equaliser was disappointing for the club.

Pareja told the PlainSailing website after the match that his team played so well that a victory should have been what they deserved on the night. As it is, they have to produce another spectacular performance away to Seattle Sounders in order to reach the finals. A gulf in class separated the teams going by the league standings. Seattle Sounders had a 10 point advantage over Dallas in the regular season.

“It’s frustrating not to come out with a victory. It’s frustrating to give up a goal. It’s frustrating to not create as many chances that give us the possibility to win it,” said the Dallas coach. Captain Matt Hedges also spoke about the disappointment of having conceded from a set piece despite having played so well in open play. “That’s the most frustrating thing. We keep their attack relatively quiet and Alonso gets a goal off a free kick,” said Hedges. The goal by Alonso was his first in this MLS season.

DALLAS MISSING STARS

admin

FC Dallas were without three influential players for their match against Portland Timbers, and it clearly showed as they were defeated 1-0. Dallas started the match without two of their important players unavailable due to various reasons. Blas Perez was on international duty, while Kenny Cooper had to attend a family problem. This meant that Eric Hassli was used as the striker, but he was on the pitch for only 8 min after suffering a back injury. Despite the loss, manager Schellas Hyndman has said that he is happy with the performance of his players.

He has said that the team created enough chances over the course of 90 min to have warranted at least a draw from the match, but he is confident that the team will return to winning ways once he gets the big names back in the team. Hyndman has said that Dallas have one of the best attacking line-ups in the division, but he did not have them for this match due to various reasons. Despite this, he has recalled how Dallas made Portland Timbers goalkeeper Ricketts work to the best of his abilities.

Portland’s Darlington Nagbe scored a goal in the 52th minute and that proved to be the difference between the two teams.

“Scoring chances were there, on the road, Ricketts [Timbers goalkeeper] had to make seven saves. So those were scoring chances. We also went into the game with no strikers. Eric Hassli got injured. I found out today at 11 o’clock we lost Kenny Cooper to a family emergency. And, also Blas Perez is with Panama. I think we have arguably the best strikers in the league. So take those three guys and we might have been a little different today,” said the Dallas manager after the match.

Dallas will be facing Portland in the US Open cup in two weeks time.