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MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas Falls 2-1 to St. Louis CITY SC in 2024 Leagues Cup Opener

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


ST. LOUIS, Missouri - FC Dallas was defeated 2-1 by St. Louis CITY SC in the opening game of the Leagues Cup group stage Saturday Night at CITYPARK.

JUNQUA SCORES FIRST FOR DALLAS

Defender Sam Junqua scored his first Leagues Cup goal tonight in the 18th minute of the first half. This is his second goal scored in 2024. Junqua became the eighth different goal scorer for FC Dallas in Leagues Cup.

WELCOME TO LEAGUES CUP

Interim head coach Peter Luccin made his Leagues Cup debut tonight alongside midfielders Tarik Scott, Carl Sainté and Tomas Pondeca as well as forwards Logan Farrington and Petar Musa.

FC DALLAS' RECORD IN LEAGUES CUP

FC Dallas is 2-1-2 all-time in Leagues Cup matches since the tournament launched in its modern edition in 2023. Dallas played its first road game in Leagues Cup tonight having played every 2023 Leagues Cup match at home.

UP NEXT: HEADING BACK TO TOYOTA STADIUM

FC Dallas will play its second 2024 Leagues Cup group stage match on South Asian American Heritage Celebration Night from Toyota Stadium versus Liga MX side FC Juárez on Wednesday, July 31. The match will kickoff at 8PM CT and will air on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, the FC Dallas app in Spanish and English, and Talk Radio 1190 AM in English.

FC DALLAS POSTGAME QUOTES

Interim head coach Peter Luccin

General thoughts about the game...

"I don't have a problem with missing a penalty kick. I have a problem with the way that we managed the game. St. Louis put in a lot of energy, a lot of heart. We knew coming into the match that they were a good team. We controlled the game in the beginning, we had many chances on goal. We showed attitude tonight, the players played with heart, they showed good effort, good energy and good intensity. However, we were unable to manage the game. Our passing at times was sloppy, we missed easy passes. We have another game in four days against Juárez and we know that the only option we have is to win if we want to go through to the next round. We have to recover and make sure that the players will be ready for the next game."

On what the team needs to improve on...

"We need to be more consistent and have better sequences with the ball. We cannot have ten good minutes and ten bad minutes, we need to be more calm with the ball. We saw tonight that when we play in space we can score."

On the performance of Carl Sainté, Tomas Pondeca and Tarik Scott...

"The youngsters showed a lot of energy. I'm very happy with the young players, however, they need to adapt a little bit more to the match flow. This will help us maintain the level throughout the entire game. We need to be a little bit more consistent, but I am very pleased with the way they played tonight. Tarik Scott when he came in, he changed the flow of the game."

Defender Sam Junqua

On his goal...

"It's something we've been working on in training where I bend the outside back backwards and Paul (Arriola) receives the ball low and draws out the center back so there's space for me to run into. The timing was good and I was able to just slot it away."

On finding consistency on the road...

"The game is comprised of moments and we had some very good sequences we can be proud of. There were times where I felt we kind of turned off and we're not consistent in these moments. That adds up to these results where we do almost enough but not quite enough. If we do what we did in part of this game for 90 minutes we're going to get a result on the road and that's what it takes."

Forward Paul Arriola

On finding consistency away from home...

"It's one thing to talk about and one thing to go out and perform. For us all, that's been our problem, we've shown amazing moments like our goal tonight and other good sequences that turn into good opportunities. But in the end, we're just kind of turning off, maybe a lack of communication. For us that's the million-dollar question. If we were doing everything right we'd be in a better position and winning more games. We just have to continue to work hard, put our heads down, understand we're not the finished product and hopefully by doing that it'll keep us motivated and able to pick up better results."

On the play building up to the goal...

"When we studied St. Louis this week, we saw that they like to press high. Knowing that, we knew that we had to take advantage of the high press defensive line. We left Petar (Musa) alone with the defenders and when Sebastien (Ibeagha) played the long ball to Petar (Musa) and he found me, I played the ball in space to Sam (Junqua) and he was able to finish the play. It was a great goal, but it wasn't enough to win the game tonight."

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