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MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas Earns a Point in a 2-2 Draw against San Jose Earthquakes

June 8, 2019 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


San Jose, CA - FC Dallas draws against San Jose Earthquakes at Avaya Stadium after Francis Atuahene scores the game-tying goal in the 65th minute.

Game Summary

First Half:

11'- Jacori Hayes gets FCD's first shot off from outside the box but his attempt is saved by Daniel Vega.

27'- FC Dallas gets on the scoreboard first after Vega mistakenly allows a pass to go right through his legs and into the back of the net.

34'-A Quakes corner taken by Cristian Espinoza finds Marcos Lopez on the left side of the box, but the Peruvian's near-post volley meets a diving save from Jimmy Maurer.

39'- SJ's Magnus Eriksson gets a through pass to Valeri Qazaishvili but Jacori Hayes tracks back well to slow him down before Maurer can come up big again with another save.

Second Half:

46'- SJ's Chris Wondolowski scores his 152nd MLS career goal after a right-footed volley from an Eriksson cross.

54'- The Quakes take the lead after Eriksson's left-footed volley from the top of the box appears to be cleared off the goal line by Matt Hedges, but after a VAR review, the goal is given to the Earthquakes.

65'- Not long after making his MLS debut, Francis Atuahene scores his first MLS goal after sending a curling right-footed shot pass Vega's right side.

72'- Qazaishvili's long shot is too strong and goes high above Maurer's goal.

83'- Hedges jumps above two SJ defenders to put a header in a dangerous area for Vega, but it just misses the target and hits the post.

90+5'- FC Dallas nearly get a game-winner when Jesus Ferreira sent a lobbed pass into Atuahene, but his shot from inside the box is blocked by a defender.

Lineups:

FC Dallas - Jimmy Maurer; Reto Ziegler, Matheus Bressan, Matt Hedges, Reggie Cannon; Ryan Hollingshead, Jacori Hayes; Dominique Badji (Bryan Reynolds - 84'), Thomas Roberts (Ema Twumasi - 77'), Michael Barrios (Francis Atuahene - 64') ; Jesus Ferreira.

Substitutes not used - Kyle Zobeck, John Nelson, Callum Montgomery, Zdenek Ondrasek.

San Jose Earthquakes - Daniel Vega; Marcos López (Paul Marie - 71'), Florian Jungwirth, Francois Affolter, Tommy Thompson; Jackson Yueill, Judson, Valeri Qazaishvili (Siad Haji - 77'); Cristian Espinoza, Chris Wondolowski, Magnus Eriksson.

Substitutes not used - Andrew Tarbell, Jimmy Ockford, Eric Calvillo, Luis Felipe Fernandes, Kevin Partida.

Scoring Summary:

FCD: Daniel Vega (own goal) - 27'

SJ: Chris Wondolowski (Magnus Eriksson, Marcos López) - 46'

SJ: Magnus Eriksson (Tommy Thompson) - 54'

FCD: Francis Atuahene (Jacori Hayes) - 65'

Misconduct Summary:

FCD: Dominique Badji (caution) - 13'

SJ: Marcos López (caution) - 14'

FCD: Jesus Ferreira (caution) - 90'+1'

Weather: Sunny, 81

Attendance: 16,841

Referee: Ted Unkel

Assistant Referees: Ian Anderson, Corey Rockwell

4th Official: Joseph Dickerson

VAR Official: Edvin Jurisevic

FC Dallas head coach Luchi Gonzalez

Overall thoughts on today's match...

Mixed because we're going into the half with a goal, I know it was an unfortunate goal, but the goal was a real result of us trying to put some pressure on them, so a goal is a goal. [San Jose] responded really well first 10 minutes of the second half and we were reacting to that. They put a lot of pressure on us, they got in behind us, they transitioned quickly on us and they turned the game around. All of the sudden, we are facing them 2-1 down in a 10-minute spell and it was really disappointing. So we have to be honest with ourselves that that's not good enough. It's a moment where it's not good enough. But again, the group responded. We made some adjustments. I thought the pieces that came off the bench gave energy and left everything on the field. And it was a great goal from Francis. I know he was hungry to get on the end of it.

As the game went on, San Jose then started to respond but the game settled more and we were able to find our footing and get some confidence back with the level of the scoreline and create some transition counters. The game was open, we could have made it 3-2, so could San Jose, but it's an important point. Disappointing to give up the lead, but at the same time we were down and had to respond, so something to grow on. This is a hard place to play, but we will move forward and we have to be ready for the next game which is the [Lamar Hunt] U.S. Open Cup game on Wednesday.

On Francis Atuahene's debut...

It's a day. It's a given day and he was excited and showed energy in the opportunity he had. We felt we needed a piece to stretch [San Jose] vertically and work, and he responded to that responsibility. Congrats to him and to the team in the way he helped the team earn a point today.

Our words to him were "go in there and be aware of this defensive duty, look to have these habits when we get the ball in terms of movement, but he needs to be him." He earned the opportunity and showed a lot of courage and excitement to take a player on, cut inside and take the shot. If we don't shoot, we don't score and he took that opportunity really well and I'm very happy for him.

On Chris Wondolowski...

He's the top scorer in the history of the league so we definitely were prepared to try to neutralize him and make sure there was a tight mark on him especially when there is service because he is a very smart reference in the box. Congrats to him and the career he has had and I hope he keeps going. But our idea was to make sure there was pressure on him and give him less time and less space on service. He still got one in there early in the second half which is disappointing on our part but that's what he can do if given the time and space.

FC Dallas forward Francis Atuahene

Reactions after his goal...

It's a big day. It's been almost two years for me to get my debut so, obviously, energetic and vey excited. But I was more excited that we were back in the game and we created a lot of opportunities. The ultimate goal is always to get three points so I was happy that I was able to contribute immediately when I came in.

I'm very very excited because this place is not an easy place to play. We came in with the attitude that we were coming for the three points. It didn't go the way we wanted but I was very excited that we were able to get one point out of it and now we go home and get ready for the next game.

On if he knew was debuting today...

I did not know but [head coach] Luchi [Gonzalez] always tells us to always be prepared and always be ready for when the opportunity comes, and I've always been ready and always keeping my head up getting ready for the moment...and I wanted to show that I'm ready to take the opportunity.

On his celebration...

It's been so long since I've actually played like this. It's been a very long time, I've been through a lot of injuries, so when I scored that goal I pointed at the back of my jersey just to let people know my name and I was just excited and I was at a moment where I was like, 'yeah, just remember I'm here' but I'm just excited that we were able to get a point out of here and thankful for the point and hopefully, if we stick together, we can come up with the three points next week.

On what he saw during the play...

As a forward, as a winger, my instict, when I get a ball in that kind of position, is to score. So when I got the opportunity and I saw the goalie moving and then I just didn't think, I knew what I needed to do, so I just hit the target and I was very excited that it ended up being a goal.

Did you see Vega leaning to one side?

Yeah, a little bit but I was not focused on the goalie, I was more focused on myself so the minute I got the ball I created space for myself and I thought if I hit the target it's going to be hard for the goalie to get to it.

On finally being able to come in after setbacks...

It's very very exciting. I've been through a lot of tough times growing up in Ghana and coming to the States, but this is one of the hardest things, coming in all of a sudden... two surgeries in less than almost a year. It was very brutal. This required mental toughness and I had good teammates and a good coaching staff that was able to help me go through it. Ultimately, I was able to gain fitness and gain confidence and I was just excited that I was able to get an opportunity today and I was able to make good use of the opportunity that was given to me today.

FC Dallas forward Jesus Ferreira

On Francis Atuahene's goal...

Everybody is happy for him. He's been working hard for many seasons now and he hadn't had many opportunities and now he got an opportunity where he made the best out of it. He scored in his birthday, so everybody is happy for him.

On the team's energy following Atuahene's goal...

It shows that we still have some energy that we can go out there and score. It helps us build confidence and pushes us to go "oh snap, he just scored, let's keep this up and go for another one" and let's go after the game.

On needing to stay sharp in the second half...

We knew it was going to be a hard game. We knew that we needed to learn from the mistakes back home. We came out here and improved those mistakes, but now we have to stay focus every single time we come in for the second half because the first five minutes we were down. So we have to make sure every time we come out for the second half that we are sharp.

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