MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas Defeats New Mexico United 4-1 in Preseason Friendly

January 27, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


Frisco, Texas - FC Dallas continued its winning ways in the 2024 preseason, defeating USL Championship side New Mexico United 4-1 at Toyota Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Head coach Nico Estévez fielded a 5-2-2-1 formation for the second-straight game, utilizing Herbert Endeley and Marco Farfan as wingbacks either side of a back three.

Offseason signing Enes Sali made his FC Dallas debut, starting as one of the wingers opposite Sebastian Lletget.

Sali had an excellent opportunity 12 minutes in when he collected the ball on the edge of the box following a New Mexico mix-up but his left-footed shot was saved by the goalkeeper.

Second-year wing back Herb Endeley opened the scoring in the 26th minute with a fantastic curling effort into the top corner. Lletget found Endeley down the right wing before the Indiana University product cut onto his weaker left foot and put Dallas into the lead from the edge of the box.

New Mexico equalized 3 minutes later when Zico Bailey unleashed a strike from outside the box that found the side netting of Jimmy Maurer's goal. Dallas had a chance to take the lead just before halftime when Lletget forced a save from the New Mexico 'keeper following clever build-up play from Logan Farrington and Endeley down the right wing.

Second Half Lineup: Antonio Carrera; Sam Junqua, Nkosi Tafari, Amet Korça; Isaiah Parker, Tsiki Ntsabeleng, Liam Fraser, Bernard Kamungo; Paul Arriola, Diego Garcia, Eugene Ansah

Diego Garcia almost scored with the first chance of the second half but his shot from eight yards out was deflected just wide following strong approach play from Bernard Kamungo, who was deputizing as a wing back. Eugene Ansah had a good look at goal in the 64th minute when he carried the ball from midfield, bypassed his defender, and saw his low shot blocked out for a corner.

Dallas re-took the lead in the 71st minute when Tsiki Ntsabeleng won the ball in midfield before playing a through-ball to Ansah who poked it past the 'keeper and into the net. Midfielder Liam Fraser added to the lead two minutes later when he found himself completely free on the edge of the 18-yard box before stroking it home with his right foot.

Less than a minute later, Paul Arriola made it 4-1 when he connected with Ansah's cross from the right and passed it into an empty net.

Scoring Summary:

DAL: Herbert Endeley (Paul Arriola) - 3'

NMU: Zico Bailey - 30'

DAL: Eugene Ansah (Tsiki Ntsabeleng) - 71'

DAL: Liam Fraser (Diego García) - 73'

DAL: Paul Arriola (Eugene Ansah) - 74'

Misconduct Summary:

N/A

Weather: Cloudy, 49ºF

Attendance: Closed to the public

POSTGAME QUOTES FC DALLAS

Head Coach Nico Estévez

On tonights match...

"We got some more reps on the build up that we want to implement this year. We learned about some of the issues that we could have building this way. Everyone is healthy, everyone got 45 minutes of playtime and we will just keep building fitness. We travel tomorrow to Spain and we'll have four games there and we can refine things that we've been training and developing."

On Enes Sali....

"He has that ability to turn quick, he's a very vertical player. You could see the excitement on him and he rushed a little bit in the last moment of the pass but, you know, we saw what we had been seeing on the tape."

Goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer

On tonight's game...

"Yeah, it was a great experience against a good opponent. You know, just keep building minutes, keep building the concepts and fitness and pushing day by day."

On building chemistry...

"Yeah, it's important always to get out and have these real games versus learning a lot of the concepts in training, but it's never the same as the games are. Getting in here, especially in our stadium, getting the sightlines down and getting the relationships built with each new guys are important."

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Major League Soccer Stories from January 27, 2024


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