MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas Draws Real Salt Lake 1-1 to Open 23rd MLS Season

Published on March 3, 2018 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas drew Real Salt Lake, 1-1, tonight at Toyota Stadium thanks to a goal scored by Maxi Urruti in the 86th minute.

FC Dallas started off on the right foot and had the first chance of the game in the 15th minute, when Matt Hedges stepped in to snuff out a Real Salt Lake counterattack near midfield. Hedges quickly got the ball to Mauro Diaz, who played a perfect lobbed pass into the area for Maxi Urruti. The Argentine snapped a header on goal but Nick Rimando was in perfect position to make his first save of the game.

Michael Barrios broke free down the right flank in the 20th minute. The Colombian waited for Urruti's run to develop before opting to fire a low shot to the near post. Rimando made another save, this time diving to his left side to deflect the shot out for a corner kick.

Urruti tested Rimando again in the 22nd minute. The forward found space at the near post and ripped a shot that smacked the goalkeeper in the chest before being cleared away by the Salt Lake defense.

Real Salt Lake scored in the 25th minute to go ahead 1-0. Joao Plata accepted a pass from Albert Rusnák on the left side and sprinted towards goal. FC Dallas right back Reggie Cannon ran him down, but Plata cut back and slid a shot under FC Dallas goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer to give the visitors the lead.

Barrios set Diaz up with a pair of chances in the center of the pitch between the 35th and 37th minutes but Dallas' No. 10 was unable to keep his attempts on frame.

Cannon overlapped and found Urruti for a chance to finish at the back post in the 39th minute, but Rimando recovered to make a diving save on the goal line that required another look from the Video Assistant Referee. Seconds later, Jacori Hayes cracked a shot off the crossbar behind Rimando but despite the pressure, FC Dallas still could not put one up on the scoreboard.

A perfectly timed run and pass had Barrios alone against Rimando just before the halftime whistle. Barrios cut back on the late-arriving defender but for the fifth time in the half, Rimando came up with a huge save to keep his team in the lead at the break.

Real Salt Lake's Jefferson Savarino knifed through the FC Dallas defense in the 76th minute. In alone against Maurer, the forward tried to cut right at the last minute but the goalkeeper put him off just enough to force a long touch out of Savarino. The long touch trickled over the end line before the forward could catch up to the ball, resulting in an FC Dallas goal kick.

Urruti broke through for FC Dallas in the 86th minute after Hayes knocked the forward a simple pass. Urruti turned and ran at three RSL defenders, eventually twisting his run to the right side of the goal near the end line. There, Urruti fired a low shot towards goal that caromed off Salt Lake defender Marcelo Silva and flew into the top corner of the goal to make it 1-1.

FC Dallas - Jimmy Maurer, Maynor Figueroa, Reto Ziegler, Matt Hedges, Reggie Cannon (Ryan Hollingshead 79), Carlos Gruezo, Jacori Hayes, Michael Barrios, Mauro Diaz (Roland Lamah 68), Santiago Mosquera (Cristian Colman 63), Maxi Urruti.

Substitutes not used: Kyle Zobeck, Tesho Akindele, Kris Reaves, Victor Ulloa.

Real Salt Lake - Nick Rimando, Marcelo Silva, Demar Phillips (Danilo Acosta 77), Shawn Berry, Justen Glad, Kyle Beckerman, Albert Rusnak, Damir Kreilach (Sunny 78), Joao Plata, Luis Silva, Jefferson Savarino (David Horst 84).

Substitutes not used: Luke Mulholland, Sebastian Saucedo, Alfredo Ortuno, Alex Horwath.

Scoring Summary:

RSL - Joao Plata (Albert Rusnák) 25

DAL - Maxi Urruti 86

Misconduct Summary:

DAL - Jacori Hayes (caution) 65

DAL - Michael Barrios (caution) 77

Weather: Clear, 68 degrees

Attendance: 16,116

Referee: Robert Sibiga

Assistant Referees: Jason White, Eric Weisbrod

4th official: Ted Unkel

Video Assistant Referee (VAR): Hilario Grajeda

FC Dallas Head Coach Oscar Pareja

General thoughts on the match...

In the first half, we created eight chances to score, and we had five shots on target. We had players with a chance on goal five times. It shows the character of a club that wants to do things right. The things we can take away are sometimes we need that good energy and good form for someone to finish those opportunities. We are not on that page, because in the two CONCACAF games we played, we missed a lot of chances to score. We are still struggling to score but hopefully we will start scoring more.

On Jesse Gonzalez being out of the lineup...

Jesse had some trouble with his knee this week. We tried to wait for him to see if he would be ready for this game. I know he is still trying to recover from those two CONCACAF matches. Fortunately, we have players who can fit in that goalkeeper spot. Jimmy [Maurer] today showed great character stepping in goal today. It will help in the meantime that Jesse needs to recover.

On Jacori Hayes...

It's a great message for the coaches. Jacori is a young man that has been working and waiting for his opportunity. Today he looked like a veteran. It was amazing to see his personality and the way the ball flowed through him. I am very happy with Jacori's performance.

FC Dallas midfielder Jacori Hayes

It's always good to get a nod from the coach and get the start in the home opener. I wanted to show the fans what I have been working on this whole offseason. I wanted to have a good performance after the Red Bull match last year... To try and go the full 90 this time. I was proud of my performance. I tried to help the team as best I could. We want the three points, but we'll settle for the draw. It gets us on the right foot. We will focus on the next game.

It's good we're creating those chances. They'll start to fall for us eventually. I have no doubt about our players being able to finish. It's at least a good sign that we are creating all these opportunities.

FC Dallas defender Reggie Cannon

On giving up the goal on the right side...

I learned from [Hernan] Grana last year. He struggled with it too. When you're going forward and the other opponent is just going to half, you get in the corner with someone who is completely fresh. He doesn't track back defensively. He's 100% when you have only 50% of your legs left. You just have to deal with it somehow. You have to get back and defend the goal. Atiba [Harris] taught me that part really well last year. He was a little more of a stay-at-home right back. He went forward but he wasn't like Grana. He taught me the defensive aspect of the game. I just need to grow and learn from it.

I think I am getting better. I am getting into the attack. I am creating chances. It's just... All it takes is one mistake. It's good to grow from it. It's good to learn from it. I'm only going to get better from here. The next few weeks, I am going to work out some of my kinks. There are some parts of my game that I need to work on. The coaching staff believes in me. I just can't let that go. It's a chance. I want to be one of the best in the world someday. This is the path I have to take.

FC Dallas midfielder Mauro Diaz

Thoughts on tonight's game...

It's an even result for both teams. They had a chance. They took advantage of it. We need to continue improving and defining our plays. It's important that we continue to create chances and the goals will come.

Thoughts on tonight's draw...

The team never gave up, so I'm happy for my teammates, for playing until the last second. We took a point that is a point nonetheless.

FC Dallas midfielder Santiago Mosquera

Thoughts on his debut with FC Dallas and adjusting to the MLS...

It was a difficult. It was a complicated game, but I'll get used to it. The next two weeks coming up will give me the opportunity to become more acquainted with the team. It will cost me, but I'm in a very good condition to face this challenge. Like I've been saying, it'll be nice to play offensively here. I know that my styles are also made for this type of soccer. I hope to adapt as quickly as possible to bring more opportunities to the team.

Real Salt Lake head coach Mike Petke

General thoughts on game...

We're always going to play aggressive. We worked a lot this week and the week before knowing Dallas would be in better shape due to the two CCL games, maybe a little sharper. It's hard to swallow that late goal. Having said that, they had their opportunities, but we did as well. Perhaps 1-1 is a fair result, but our guys, they worked hard. For a first game with a long way to go, it's a good start.

On what Silva is thinking after his own goal...

I don't think Marcelo's working through anything. Marcelo's doing fine. The goal started a heck of a lot higher up the field than that. Not going to name anybody, but we've got to be a bit more intelligent as far as just kicking the ball in the damn stands. The refs did a decent job today, but I thought there was possibly a foul. I talked to the ref after the game about that. He felt that there wasn't, so hey, he made the call. But Marcelo was the end result and everybody always looks at the end result. Nothing on Marcelo whatsoever.

On Plata's goal...

Well, I'll say this, the game plan today when we were in transition going forward a lot of the time - it was exactly what we wanted it to be. Our counterattack, our transition play today, our off-ball movement and interaction between guys like Plata, Savarino, Albert [Rusnak], Luis [Silva], Damir [Kreilach] stepped it up, even Kyle [Beckerman] at times was fantastic. Perhaps the middle of the season, when we're a bit sharper, perhaps quarter way through the season, two or three of those find the net. Kyle's header off the corner, Damir off the throw-in earlier, when we found him top of the box, maybe that goes in. Savarino's breakaway, perhaps those go in. At the end of the day, we wanted to adopt a new mentality on the road this year. I'm pleased with their commitment to the defensive work that we want to do.

On Kreilach's MLS debut...

I thought he did very well. The more that he's ingrained as far as on a daily basis in practice starting on Monday and then the game against LAFC, if he starts and plays, he's only going to get better. He's a winner. He's a warrior. He's a hard worker. He has such quality with the ball. The partnership he had with Kyle [Beckerman] today was very good. There's always going to be things we can point out. I would've liked to have seen him maybe take a higher approach in certain scenarios of the game, but again, we were on the road, so perhaps it was a little bit of a defensive mentality. But overall, I think he did very well.

Real Salt Lake midfielder Demir Kreilach

On his MLS debut...

We played very good on offense and defense. We created a lot of good opportunities. Unfortunately, we also missed a lot of chances, but we must look forward and concentrate on the next game with Los Angeles.

On his adjustment to MLS...

I know that MLS is a very good league with high quality. Both teams showed this in this game today. Normally, it's the same level like in Germany. Here we have a team of very good players.

Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando

On if this is a positive result...

To get a point and a result on the road in the first game of the season against a team that had two meaningful games already, I think it's a good result. We'll look at videotape and see the things that we've done bad and learn from it. But all in all, I think for the first game and coming to Dallas, where we usually don't get a lot of points, it's a good result.

On how it feels for him personally to get a rare point here...

To get a point here where we never do get a lot, it's good to come here and get a result. There's a lot of good stuff out there that I saw. Obviously, we need to freshen up on a couple things, but all in all, a point, two goals tonight, not bad.

On what he saw on the own goal...

Yeah, for the end of the game, I think [Maxi] Urruti did good getting to the byline, just hoping for a deflection or to find one of their players. Unlucky for Marcelo. He tried to clear the ball and it went inside the goal.

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