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 FC Dallas

FC Dallas Downs Sporting Kansas City, 2-1

April 18, 2016 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


Michael Barrios of FC Dallas
Michael Barrios of FC Dallas
(FC Dallas, Credit: Olivia Brestal)

FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas (5-1-2, 17 points) came from behind thanks to goals by Michael Barrios and Mauro Rosales to defeat Sporting Kanas City tonight at Toyota Stadium.

FC Dallas forced a diving save out of Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia in the seventh minute of the match. The play began on the right flank with Michael Barrios, who feinted right before playing a cross in on the pitch to midfielder Kellyn Acosta. The Plano, Texas, native cracked a shot towards the near post with his first touch but Melia was in position to make a diving save to his left side to force a corner kick.

Dallas just missed on a second opportunity to take a lead in the 20th minute. Maxi Urruti played Fabian Castillo into space and the Colombian burst into the area before cutting back, splitting a pair of Sporting defenders and hitting a shot towards the back post. Unfortunately for Dallas, the shot split the back post and the run of forward Tesho Akindele and crossed the endline harmlessly for a Kansas City goal kick.

Against the run of play, Kansas City took a 1-0 lead on a corner kick taken by Benny Feilhaber in the 22nd minute. Feilhaber drove a cross to the near post and the curling pass dipped away from a pair of FC Dallas defenders at the front post. FC Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz was unable to get a hand to the ball and Lawernce Olum arrived before his marker to head in the opening goal of the match.

Acosta set the table for FC Dallas to level the match in the 35th minute. The Homegrown midfielder collected a pass in his third of the field, accelerated through midfield and played a 40-yard pass toward the far corner of the area. Urruti got a tiny touch on the ball to help it on to the foot of Barrios. The Colombian turned the corner and got off a hard shot that beat Melia and crawled across the end line to make it 1-1.

Seitz made a huge save on Kansas City forward Jimmy Medranda to keep the match level in the 61st minute. Medranda was in alone against the goalkeeper from 20 yards out following a one-two pass. Seitz charged off his line to cut down on the striker's options and made a kick save with his right leg, his fourth stop of the match to keep the score, 1-1.

Seven minutes later, second-half substitute Mauro Rosales buried a free kick from just outside the area after Urruti was fouled at the top of the box. Rosales stepped to the ball and lofted a right-footed, curling shot over the wall and into the side netting. The strike was the veteran's 14th MLS goal of his career and his first in an FC Dallas uniform.

Sporting won an identical free kick in the 90th minute after defender Atiba Harris was whistled for a foul just outside the area. Brad Davis took the kick, driving a hard shot towards the back post but Seitz was in position and made a diving save to his right side to preserve the result.

Scoring Summary:

SKC - Lawernce Olum (Benny Feilhaber) 22

DAL - Michael Barrios (Maxi Urruti) 35

DAL - Mauro Rosales 68

Lineups:

FC Dallas - Chris Seitz, Maynor Figueroa, Walker Zimmerman, Zach Loyd, Ryan Hollingshead (Atiba Harris 46), Victor Ulloa, Kellyn Acosta, Fabian Castillo (Juan Esteban Ortiz 82), Michael Barrios, Tesho Akindele (Mauro Rosales 63), Maxi Urruti.

Substitutes Not Used: Jesse Gonzalez, Colin Bonner, Mauro Rosales, Carlos Lizarazo, Juan Esteban Ortiz, Moises Hernandez, Atiba Harris, Colin Bonner.

Sporting Kansas City - Tim Melia, Nuno Coelho, Matt Besler, Amadou Dia (Seth Sinovic 70), Saad Abdul-Salaam, Benny Feihaber, Lawernce Olum (Ike Opara 70), Roger Espinoza, Brad Davis, Jimmy Medranda (Diego Rubia 79), Dom Dwyer.

Substitutes Not Used: Jordi Quintilla, Conner Hallisey, Jacob Peterson, Alec Kann.

Misconduct Summary:

DAL: Atiba Harris (caution) 90

Referee: Hilario Grajeda

AR1 (bench) Ian Anderson; AR2 (opposite): James Conlee; 4th: Mark Geiger:; AR2 (opposite):

Fourth: Daniel Radford

Weather: Cloudy, 66

Attendance: 16, 215

FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja

On the late Bobby Rhine, who would have turned 40 on April 18...

I had it in my head all of the time. I said if we win this one, that is for Bobby. How important is Bobby for this club? How important is the legacy that he has given to all of us and all of the youngsters growing in this club? These three points are for him. Happy Birthday, Bobby.

Overall thoughts on the match...

Unfortunately, the challenge today for both teams was the tiredness we both have after traveling and after the hectic schedule. It was a heavy field because there was a lot of rain, and both teams were giving everything they had and trying to make the game happen. That's a credit to both teams.

We deserved it... three points that we take with a lot of pride. We had a group of guys who were responding once again, after going down 1-0, especially the guys who came on in the second half. I'm very happy for that, especially Mauro Rosales who showed why he's here.

On Mauro Rosales...

Mauro wants to play. He has his fire still. That's why I brought him (here). Why we brought him (here). The club trusts him and his willingness to keep pushing and that's the kind of players we like to have with this group. Mauro's conviction and commitment showed today, and the role he has in the team is important. When he came on the field today, he tried to glue us (together) on the field and balance the team. I thought he did a great job.

On following the mid-week win at Portland...

A big win at Portland is magnified tonight with the points that you get at home. When you go play away and you get those points, you get the real value once you make the difference at home. Today, we were talking about six points in a row and that was huge. The personality and the energy that we had the whole 90 minutes were crucial. I knew that today we were going to play a little bit off of that. It was asking way too much to have the same energy (as Wednesday night in Portland). I knew they were going to be tired tonight at some point, but they surprised me. They fought and they found balance during the game. I'm very pleased with it.

On Victor Ulloa wearing the captain's armband...

Victor was our captain at the Academy for many years, so it's not strange for him. Tonight it was familiar. It is very familiar to see him with the armband, and in the locker room it's the same because his leadership has been growing tremendously. I'm proud to see him grow that much, and one of our kids from the Academy, today, he was wearing the armband. That makes us proud.

FC Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz

On defending the free kick in the 90th minute...

When the game is that tight, and the match is that close, you want to force them to go over the wall. From that distance getting the ball up and down is very difficult. You saw Mauro [Rosales] do it tonight. That is unreal. The amount of talent it takes to get the ball up and down... As a goalkeeper you have to hold your ground, hold to your side. They will probably hit it with pace to your side. You need to be ready for it. I put a lot of guys behind the wall and on the other end of the wall, to make it tougher. Our guys did a great job following the game plan and finishing the comeback.

FC Dallas midfielder Kellyn Acosta

General thoughts on the match...

It was a big win for us. It was a conference game. We are fighting for the Supporters' Shield. Great goals by Michael [Barrios] and Mauro [Rosales]. We'll keep fighting. We have another big game this weekend against Vancouver.

On the spark provided by Mauro Rosales...

He adds a dimension we need. He can play that final pass. He scored a great goal tonight. He has the spark we need off of the bench. I am happy for him. I imagine he will keep pushing and produce again next match what he was able to do here tonight.

FC Dallas captain Victor Ulloa

On being named captain after Matt Hedges was ruled out of the match...

I was the captain of the team throughout my time with the FC Dallas Academy, so I had some experience. Captaining the first team is a dream come true, something I've wanted for a long time. I am very grateful.

We knew that we got a great result in Portland. We needed to come out with the same intensity. We were at home. It wasn't the prettiest of matches but we got the result we wanted. That is all that matters.

The team played a lot better after the 30th minute, what inspired that change?

We came out a little flat. Once Mikey [Barrios] scored and we got that goal deficit off our backs, we started attacking them and got them on their heels. We came into halftime with that momentum and Mauro [Rosales] scored that goalazo... All the credit in the world to him.

Sporting Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes

I thought we were good tonight. I think we could have easily scored a couple of goals. We had great looks 1v1 with the keeper. I thought we gave up two soft goals, to be honest with you. That's the way it goes.

On Chris Seitz's performance...

I thought it was good. I think it was more us missing than anything. I think it was three shots right at him. There's a pretty big goal there. We could have easily went left or right, but we were shooting right at him, and on one we completely missed the goal. I thought the two goals we gave up were very soft on our part. Bad decisions.

On adjustments late to put pressure on FC Dallas...

We just made a big adjustment in regards to the way we were playing. Our formation, we just kind of threw our numbers forward. They were going to just kind of sit back to win it, hold on to (the lead). I thought we had some really good chances. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't. At least the energy at the end was very good, at least we went for it, which I'm proud of from our point of view. It's a shame because I thought we had some very good looks, but when you have that many, you've got to sneak one in. We did a good job too, defending. They fought for it. That's why they got the three.

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Roger Espinoza

General thoughts on the match...

It was a tough match. They came back from a deficit and that was due to our lack of concentration. They scored a great second goal. There is nothing we can do about that. We could have done things in a different way but we didn't and now we have another loss. We need to look forward. We have two very important matches that we need to be prepared for. As for now, we are going back home to try to work on things. Hopefully we can do things better in the next two games.

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Diego Rubio

General thoughts on the match...

We played a good first half, but something happened. We lost focus of what was happening in the field. We had a couple of chances that we missed towards the end. Those were great chances for us to tie the match and walk out with one point. Unfortunately, we lost this match, but we have two upcoming games in the next week. We need to be very focused and start scoring some wins.

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Benny Feilhaber

General thoughts on the match...

They took a good free kick. I have to watch it again. It looked kind of like our player, [Amadou] Dia was there. It looked like [Maxi] Urruti and him kind of knocked each other over. I don't know if it was much of a foul but they took a good set piece and scored. [Chris] Seitz made a good save on ours. Other than that there is 89 minutes that were played in the game, but it is a frustrating result.

On missed chances...

Their first goal was a bit soft and, I guess lucky, in a way. Maybe unlucky for us. It was not a very well hit ball diagonally. It just kind of got through after hitting a couple people. Unfortunate for us but we can still do better. In terms of the opportunities that we got, we definitely need to finish them. Obviously, Dom [Dwyer] will tell you he finishes that nine times out of 10, when he is one-on-one with the goalie. He also played an excellent ball to Jimmy [Medranda] and he had a chance as well. There were other chances - shots from the top of the box, set pieces, stuff like that. I still think we need to generate more chances than we did. As much as we could have scored more goals today, we also could have generated more chances.





Images from this story

Michael Barrios of FC Dallas
Michael Barrios of FC Dallas

(Olivia Brestal)
  

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