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FC Dallas Extends Unbeaten Streak to 10, Moves into Tie for First

August 22, 2014 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


FRISCO, Texas "" Despite playing the second half with only 10 men, FC Dallas (12-7-6, 42 points) defeated Real Salt Lake, 2-1, tonight in front of 17, 622 fans at Toyota Stadium.

FC Dallas' first quality scoring chance came on the counter-attack in the 22nd minute, following a corner kick for Real Salt Lake. The serve in from the flag was partially cleared away by the FC Dallas defense, but Salt Lake managed to corral the ball at the top of the area. Fortunately for Dallas, Blas Perez hustled to intercept a short pass and quickly released Fabian Castillo into space. The speedster took the pass to the top left corner of the area before cutting back and firing a shot to the near post, but veteran goalkeeper Nick Rimando smothered the attempt and left no rebound.

Dallas had a second chance to go ahead in the 31st minute when Andres Escobar started the break out, dribbled into the center of the pitch and played a perfect through ball to the feet of Tesho Akindele. The Rookie-of-the-Year favorite sidestepped Rimando, but was forced to work around two backtracking defenders before he could get off a clear shot. By the time Akindele was open, Rimando had recovered enough to get a shoulder on the shot, which was just enough to send the ball over the crossbar.

Just before halftime, the match took a turn in favor of Real Salt Lake when referee Ismail Elfath showed Perez his second caution of the match after the Panamanian forward was knocked to the ground by Real Salt Lake defender Chris Schuler. The first foul was whistled in favor of FC Dallas, for Schuler coming over the back of Perez, but when the pair rose to their feet, Schuler pushed Perez back to the turf. Elfath did card Schuler for the push, but also showed Perez a caution for embellishment.

Despite playing a man down, FC Dallas came charging out of the locker room after the break and earned a corner kick in the 50th minute. Set piece specialist Michel took the kick, lining a ball to the top of the six-yard box for Je-Vaughn Watson. The Jamaican timed his run perfectly and chested the ball to the near post past Rimando and into the back of the net.

Five minutes later, Dallas narrowly avoided giving up the game-tying goal when Luke Mulholland sent a free kick into the box from the right flank. Robbie Findley was first to the serve and redirected a header off the crossbar from 12 yards out, but a Dallas defender was on hand to usher the loose ball away from danger.

Castillo added a second goal for Dallas in the 74th minute, when Michel played a long outlet pass forward to Akindele. Playing like a seasoned veteran, Akindele nodded a header into the path of Castillo and the electric forward did the rest. After speeding through two Salt Lake defenders, Castillo cracked a hard, low shot to the far post, beating Rimando to his back post. The goal was Castillo's 10th in his last 11 matches across all competitions. The 22-year-old has also added six assists during that stretch.

Real Salt Lake ruined the clean sheet by pulling a goal back in stoppage-time, but Dallas was able to hang onto the one-goal lead to move into a four-way tie for first place in MLS.


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