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MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas Earns 3-2 Win over Rapids at Toyota Stadium

June 8, 2014 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas (6-7-3, 21 points) defeated the Colorado Rapids, 3-2, in front of 16,201 fans at Toyota Stadium tonight.

The high-scoring affair began to pick up near the 21st minute, FC Dallas controlled possession and looked to be building towards a scoring chance when midfielder Fabain Castillo lost the ball in the center of the field. Colorado countered instantly. A single pass created a breakaway opportunity for Deshorn Brown, but FC Dallas goalkeeper Raul Fernandez stood his ground at the top of the area and forced the forward to push his shot attempt wide of the near post.

Brown got his second chance to capitalize five minutes later and took it well. Following a cross that was played in by Jose Mari from the Rapid's right flank, Dallas-native Drew Moor nodded the ball back across the face of goal. Brown reacted to the header quicker than his marker and managed to chip a right-footed shot over the head of Fernandez from inside the six-yard box to give the Rapids an early 1-0 lead.

Blas Perez managed to earn a free kick opportunity for FC Dallas in the 33rd minute. Left-footed defender Jair Benitez took the 32-yard free kick. He bent a hard shot around the left side of the wall. As the ball passed by the group of players in the wall, fellow Colombian Andres Escobar, making his first start of the season, crossed up Colorado goalkeeper Clint Irwin. The ball took a slight deflection off the FC Dallas midfielder's back, helping it past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to make it a 1-1 game.

FC Dallas snuck in a second goal just before halftime when Castillo took the ball into the area and attempted to dribble around a pair of Colorado defenders. The ball deflected off the heel of Moor and into the path of late-arriving defender Zach Loyd, who struck the ball hard towards goal with this first touch. Luck let down Irwin for a second time as the shot deflected off of Rapids defender Chris Klute, knocking the ball off its original trajectory. Irwin still managed to get a paw to the shot, but could not keep it from crossing the goal line.

At halftime, FC Dallas head coach Osacr Pareja was forced to use his second substitution of the game to replace injured center back Matt Hedges. His first, center back Stephen Keel, also replaced a center back, Walker Zimmerman in the 44th minute. The result was a patchwork backline. Loyd, typically a right back moved into the middle to replace Hedges while Je-Vaughn Watson, usually a midfielder slid into Loyd's role at right back.

Adding to the adversity, Colorado came out of halftime on fire, pinning FC Dallas into its defensive third of the pitch for the opening seven minutes of the second half. The pressure culminated in the 52nd minute when a corner kick taken by Dillon Powers was sent to the back of the six-yard box, where Jose Mira laid out to hammer a header on goal. Manning the right post behind Fernandez, Benitez nearly nodded the ball off the line, but the shot was too hard for the defender to handle.

FC Dallas regained its one-goal lead in the 63rd minute on a dazzling goal scored by Castillo. After winning the ball back in the center of the pitch, the 21-year-old sped away from the first defender, cut around another two near the top of the box and went around a fourth inside the area before unleashing a high shot that beat Irwin to the far post.

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