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FC Dallas Becomes First MLS Team to Win on Mexican Soil with 1-0 Victory

August 18, 2011 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


MEXICO CITY - With a 1-0 win over Pumas UNAM Wednesday night, FC Dallas became the first MLS team to win a competitive game on Mexican soil.

Thanks to an outstanding night by goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, one goal was all the visiting Dallas side needed. The veteran keeper was busy early, smothering the first clear chance of the game in the first five minutes. After an inauspicious start, Dallas settled in to maintain the majority of possession in the match, coming away with a few solid chances. In the 66th minute, their pressure on the Pumas defense paid off with Marvin Chavez netting the game winner. Jair Benitez began the sequence with a low, hard strike that hammered the post and caromed straight to the foot of Chavez. The Honduran National had no trouble sending the ball home for the game's only score.

Only minutes earlier, it looked as though Pumas might get on the board first when a back line miscue in the 62nd minute gave the home side a wide-open look at goal, but the shot sailed wide. In the 68th minute, Pumas earned a corner, but the ball was easily cleared from danger. The host side managed to get off an immediate second shot, but the attempt was not on frame.

Jackson tested Patino from 35 yards out in the 70th minute, but the keeper was equal to the task.

The loss was only Pumas' second at home in 11 Champions League matches and the first since falling to Cruz Azul 1-0 in the 2009 quarterfinals.

FC Dallas returns home to face MLS foe Seattle Sounders FC in league play on Saturday before heading North to Toronto for their second game of the CONCACAF Group Stage. FC Dallas and Mexican First Division Champions Pumas UNAM are scheduled to meet again in Dallas on Sept. 21 at Pizza Hut Park. Pumas UNAM has won the Primera Division seven times, most recently in 2011, qualifying automatically for the Group Stage as the Mexican Clausura Champion.


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