MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas Punches Its Postseason Ticket with a Dominant 4-1 Win Over the LA Galaxy

October 21, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


Carson, CA - FC Dallas (11-10-13, 46 points) dominated the Los Angeles Galaxy (8-14-12, 36 points) 4-1 Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California thanks to an offensive outpouring featuring a brace from forward Bernard Kamungo. With the win, Dallas qualified for the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs for the second straight season and 20th overall. Dallas will face the Seattle Sounders in a Round One Best-of-3 series. Major League Soccer is expected to announce the dates and times of that series on Sunday.

CALM, COOL, COLLECTED AND QUICK

U.S international Bernard Kamungo scored FC Dallas' fastest goal of the season, three minutes into the match, overtaking Paul Arriola's goal scored 3:28 into the match against Atlanta United on September 2.

BRACE YOURSELF FOR BERNARD

FC Dallas' Bernard Kamungo scored his first career brace in MLS action tonight. Kamungo scored two braces while playing for MLS Next Pro side North Texas SC against Kansas City II on August 1, 2022 and against St. Louis 2 on September 11, 2022. Kamungo now has six goals in 2023, tying Jáder Obrian (6) for second in goals scored this season for FC Dallas. Jesús Ferreira led Dallas with 12 regular season goals in 2023.

EL PARCERO GOLDEADOR

Jáder Obrian scored his sixth goal of the regular season four minutes after entering the match for the injured Bernard Kamungo in the 42nd minute of the first half. Six regular season goals are the most Obrian has scored since he netted nine in his first season in MLS in 2021.

FOUR THE FIRST TIME IN LEAGUE ACTION

For the first time this season, FC Dallas scored four goals in one game during MLS action. Dallas' highest scoring game would also come on the road against Real Salt Lake defeating RSL 3-1 on September 20. Dallas also scored three goals against the Galaxy on March 4, 2023. Dallas scored four goals in Leagues Cup action against Inter Miami CF in the Round of 16 on August 6.

THE DEFENSE TO OFFENSE CONNECTION

MLS Defender of the Year nominee Nkosi Tafari registered his third assist of the season on Kamungo's first goal. Notably, two of Tafari's assists have led to two goals from Bernard Kamungo.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST

Defender Ema Twumasi scored his first career FC Dallas goal in the 13th minute of the match during his 84th MLS game. Twumasi was drafted 11th overall in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft by FC Dallas from Wake Forest.

REMEMBER WHEN...

Against LA, FC Dallas scored four goals in the first half for the first time since August 29, 2021 when Dallas beat Austin FC 5-3. Homegrowns Jesús Ferreira and Ricardo Pepi scored the first half goals for Dallas in that match. FCD is also the fifth team in MLS history to score at least four goals in the first half of its final game of the regular season.

UP NEXT: POSTSEASON PLAY VS SEATTLE

FC Dallas faces the Seattle Sounders in a Round One Best-of-3 series in the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. Dallas faced the Sounders twice in 2023 and played to a 1-1 draw in both matches: at Lumen Field on Saturday, July 15 and at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas on Saturday, September 16.

Lineups

FC Dallas - Maarten Paes; Marco Farfan (José Martínez - 82'), Nkosi Tafari, Ema Twumasi, Sebastien Ibeagha; Asier Illarramendi, Paxton Pomykal (Liam Fraser - 76'), Alan Velasco (Jesús Jiménez - 83'); Paul Arriola (Dante Sealy - 77'), Jesús Ferreira, Bernard Kamungo (Jáder Obrian - 43').

Substitutes not used - Jimmy Maurer, Katlego Ntsabeleng, Sam Junqua, Eugene Ansah.

Los Angeles Galaxy - Novak Micovic; Julián Aude (Raheem Edwards - 18'), Tony Alfaro (Chris Mavinga - 45'), Maya Yoshida, Kelvin Leerdam (Eriq Zavaleta - 82); Diego Fagundez (Riqui Puig - 64'), Edwin Cerrillo; Dejan Joveljic, Douglas Costa, Tyler Boyd; Billy Sharp (Jonathan Pérez - 45').

Substitutes not used - Jonathan Bond, Michael Barrios, Gino Vivi, Adam Saldaña.

Scoring Summary:

DAL: Bernard Kamugo (Nkosi Tafari) - 3'

DAL: Ema Twumasi - 13'

LA: Raheem Edwards (Tyler Boyd) - 24'

DAL: Bernard Kamugo (Jesús Ferreira, Paxton Pomykal) - 30'

DAL: Jáder Obrian (Paul Arriola, Nkosi Tafari) - 45'+2'

Misconduct Summary:

LA: Edwin Cerrillo (caution) - 45'+1'

LA: Raheem Edwards (caution) - 45'+5'

DAL: Asier Illarramendi (caution) - 70'

LA: Maya Yoshida (caution) - 73'

LA: Jonathan Pérez (caution) - 79'

Weather: Sunny, 81ºF

Attendance: 22,491

POSTGAME QUOTES FC DALLAS

Head Coach Nico Estévez

On the difference tonight...

"Well, I think the first chance we had, we scored and this gives the team confidence. And I think the chances were very clear, as we all also had in some of those games that we couldn't score a second goal. And I'm glad and I'm really, really proud of the group, of the team, because this year has been a difficult year with a lot of adversity. We know how hard we have worked, how much we have suffered and how much we didn't deserve to be in the last day just trying to get that playoff spot. And I'm really, really proud of the other players."

On Bernard Kamungo's performance...

"I think it is important to know that he's still a young player, he is still developing, and then we have to be aware that he needs to know what things he is doing well, what things he needs to improve. He has a lot of room to improve. I think he has to be hungry and I think he showed what his character is as a person and as a player. He doesn't care about the opponent, doesn't care about the situation of the game. He just goes out and competes in the best way that he can do it. He's helping the team and we have to keep going slow with him."

On the playoff matchup...

"I just said in Spanish you know, one of the important things about finishing seventh and playing against Seattle is to play at home in front of our fans. This season we haven't given them as many wins as we did last year. We know they have been suffering the last month when we've played at home and we had so many ties. It is great to have a playoff game in front of our fans. They deserve it. We want a full packed stadium cheering for us. And we're gonna return that with an amazing performance and amazing effort. We can't wait to have that second game at home, in front of our fans and give them everything that they deserve."

Defender Ema Twumasi

On earning the win on Decision Day looking to lock a playoff spot...

"It's massive to get a goal, and at a great time. We knew what was at steak tonight, we wanted to get into the playoffs. We wanted to start strong tonight and I am just fortunate to help the team with the win and with the goal as well. Everyone on the team brought their best game and we buried them early."

On scoring his first career goal for the club...

"It's an amazing feeling, but for me it's more important getting into the playoffs. Last year we made it and came up short. We came here looking to win and secure our spot. It's amazing getting my first goal and help the team, but we still have a lot of work in front of us. We get ready to take on Seattle Sounders and hopefully get a win over there as well."

Midfielder Paxton Pomykal...

On clinching playoffs...

"I wish he didn't leave it down to the wire like that but it just shows the resilience of the team to have the right mindset coming away to LA, against a team that had nothing to lose and putting a strong performance together like that. That's a testament to who we are as a team. We had a stretch of games where we tied a bunch but at the end of the day, those points helped us out and put us in a position to take care of our own destiny today, now we don't have to play on Wednesday (in the Wildcard game) which is great."

On the playoff matchup against Seattle...

"It just has to be a classic Dallas-Seattle matchup. It's going to be a good one, like it always is. We're looking forward to going up there and competing. We know the environment that they have, we know the quality of team that they are-they finished second for a reason. We'll need to have a complete performance."

On the team's four-goal performance tonight...

"It was now or never. We'd created a lot of opportunities in front of goal the past few games but didn't put away our chances early. When you can do that to a team that's already out of the playoffs, the second and third come easier. I thought that we did really well off the ball today, we were hungry and the result reflected that."

Check out the FC Dallas Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from October 21, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central