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MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas Defeats Houston Dynamo with a Commanding 3-0 Win at Toyota Stadium

October 31, 2020 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


Frisco, Texas - FC Dallas wins third straight Texas Derby and the Houston Dynamo go home empty-handed on Halloween after FC Dallas sweetens its final home game with a 3-0 win and a playoff spot in the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.

Game Summary

First Half:

19' - Franco Jara scores his seventh goal of the season from very close range after Michael Barrios heads in a cross from Fafa Picault.

27' - Andrés Ricaurte finds Fafa Picault at the back post who headers it past Houston's Marko Maric to make it 2-0.

Second Half

48' - Ricaurte attempted a left-footed curling shot near the edge of the box, but Houston's Maric was able to punch it away.

50' - Jimmy Maurer makes his first save of the match as he stops Ariel Lassiter's right-footed shot from a difficult angle.

67' - Ricaurte's close range shot attempt goes over the Houston goal for a goal kick.

70' - Maurer denies Houston the chance to get on the board after Victor Cabrera's header lands in Maurer's hands for his second save of the day.

90'+3' - Picault wins the ball back in the midfield and is able to slot it past Maric to score his second goal of the match and make it 3-0.

Lineups:

FC Dallas - Jimmy Maurer; Ryan Hollingshead, Bressan, Matt Hedges, Bryan Reynolds (John Nelson - 44'); Thiago Santos, Andrés Ricaurte, Jesús Ferreira (Tanner Tessmann - 59'); Fafa Picault, Franco Jara (Santiago Mosquera - 75'), Michael Barrios (Reto Ziegler - 75').

Substitutes not used - Phelipe, Brandon Servania, Ema Twumasi, Ricardo Pepi, Dante Sealy.

Houston Dynamo - Marko Maric; Adam Lundkvist, Víctor Cabrera, Alejandro Fuenmayor, José Bizama; Darwin Cerén (Marcelo Palomino - 88'), Darwin Quintero, Wilfred Zahibo (Oscar Boniek García - 63'); Ariel Lassiter (Tomás Martínez - 62'), Christian Ramirez (Mauro Manotas - 62'), Niko Hansen (Memo Rodríguez - 35').

Substitutes not used - Cody Cropper, Maynor Figueroa, Zarek Valentin, Nico Lemoine.

Scoring Summary:

FCD: Franco Jara (Michael Barrios, Fafa Picault) - 19'

FCD: Fafa Picault (Andrés Ricaurte) - 27'

FCD: Fafa Picault - 90'+3'

Misconduct Summary:

HOU: José Bizama (caution) - 45'+2'

HOU: Wilfred Zahibo (caution) - 55'

FCD: Thiago Santos (caution) - 69'

FCD: Fafa Picault (caution) - 90'+4'

Weather: Sunny, 69

Attendance: 4,028

Referee: Jair Marrufo

Assistant Referees: Corey Rockwell, Diego Blas

4th Official: Elton Garcia

VAR Official: Edvin Jurisevic

POSTGAME QUOTES

FC Dallas Head Coach Luchi Gonzalez

On clinching third straight playoff appearance.....

I'm very proud of them and enjoying being their coach. We have another game coming up here mid-week. It's been that kind of season and there is not too much time to reflect and we need to be efficient in that reflection and move on and face the next step. We are looking forward to playing Nashville. Making the playoffs was the first and primary objective.

What was your evaluation of the attack...

We talked about trying to impose early and not be reactive. Let's show that we aren't just going to settle for a draw even though the draw would qualify us. We are playing here to win and we win the series and Derby and we want to qualify. It's at Houston's expense, that is football and that is life. We need to not have mercy with that. We need to take advantage of the opportunities and our away chances and make the defensive plays as well. You talk about adversity with (Bryan) Reynolds having to leave the game earlier and John Nelson comes in and makes a play right away to defend a shot in the box and that's a game-changing play. So it's about making plays and putting chances away and also defending your goals. The guys have taken that objective very seriously and you see it in their play. They continuously have joy and fun with moving the ball. And look, like I said, in this league you can see you can have ups and downs but we want to finish here strong and make the furthest run possible and earn a home for the playoffs. We have to do that now taking care of business in Nashville.

Thoughts on Fafa Picault's performance...

Fafa (Picault) is always full of energy. He needed time to adapt, learn and get used to the team. In the past few games, I had a feeling he would finally get his name on the score sheet. Today, he was able to finally and got himself a brace. In life, it's about having patience and faith that you can achieve your goal. You must have a good attitude always and it's something we saw with Fafa today.

FC Dallas Midfielder Andrés Ricaurte

On adapting to the league...

It's been two months and I've been able to adapt to the team's play style. There are a few good opponents out there. I know it's an intense and physical league. I learn a lot every day from my coaches and my teammates, and I just look forward to every game.

On today's game plan...

Our wingers have fast traits, so they can easily get behind the defenders all the time. In those situations, we try and take advantage of them as much as we can.

On his relationship with the attackers...

In previous games and in training sessions, we try and get to know each other better. We try to figure out our strengths and we try to improve each other. It keeps getting better and we all make better decisions as a whole, over time the results will come.

FC Dallas Forward Fafa Picault

General thoughts on the successful partnerships and linkups today...

I think it was important. Throughout the week we worked. Obviously, we don't get as much time to train and work on little bits and I think the chemistry is just growing as we go along. It's been a long year, a strange year that we've never had to go through and coming to a new team and going through a year like that it's difficult, especially after the years I've come off in the league. I'm just happy to be gelling with my teammates and today the work comes to fruition, so we just have to continue like that. Today was my chance to get some goals in and also work for the team and we want to continue that.

Thoughts on your goals today...

It's a great feeling. We knew that was a goal to seal it, obviously it was on the 90th minute but it was my first goal in the Texas Derby as well as my first brace in about two years so it felt good, it felt great. My friends are here to see it and I know my family is watching at home, and obviously, I'm celebrating with my teammates who have been supporting me in the locker room and off the field, so it's a great feeling. Obviously, I don't want it to be the last one, so I want to keep it going and keep the rhythm up.

Thoughts on the momentum of the team going into two tough road games...

I feel like we're gelling, I feel like there's a lot of joy in the group. With that said, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves and go too high. We have to keep a certain level and equilibrium because the moment you get too excited you let down your guard and that's when other teams can start to take advantage so we have to continue to stay hungry. We haven't done anything special yet and I think that's what keeps our team who we are and recognizing that we want more. We're not going to stay content with a win against Houston today. We have two away games then we have the playoffs so as happy as I am to score goals, as happy as we are to win this game today and get three points, we know the job is far from done and we want to keep our eyes on the next game.

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