Sports stats



MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas Secures 3-2 Comeback Win Versus the Portland Timbers

July 4, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas (6-10-5, 23 points) fought back to earn a 3-2 come-from-behind win versus the Portland Timbers (8-6-8, 30 points) on July 4 at Toyota Stadium.

THE MOOSE DELIVERS

Forward Petar Musa scored in the 49th minute of the match to level the score 1-1. Tonight's goal is Musa's fifth in the last four matches. Musa brings his total up to 10 goals this season and becomes the 12th player in MLS to reach 10 goals scored this season. Tsiki Ntsabeleng picked up his first assist of the season on Musa's goal.

Musa is now the seventh player in FC Dallas history to score 10 or more goals in his first season.

ALL SMILES FOR KOS

Defender Nkosi Tafari put FC Dallas ahead in the 61st minute. Tafari has scored both of his goals this season from corner kicks, with both assists provided from Sebastian Lletget. Tafari now leads all FC Dallas defenders with two goals in the 2024 campaign, while Lletget ties for the team lead with four assists. Tafari's goal was the sixth set piece goal of the season.

COME FROM BEHIND VICTORY

With tonight's 3-2 victory versus Portland, FC Dallas now have a record of 1-4-1 when trailing at half-time in MLS this season. Dallas has a record of 2-8-2 when conceding the opening goal in MLS this season. This is Dallas' first win after trailing at halftime at home in league play since March 19, 2023 versus Sporting Kansas City.

ELEVEN AND COUNTING

FC Dallas recorded its eleventh-consecutive sellout of the 2024 season. This marks the first time in club history that FC Dallas has sold out Toyota Stadium in its first eleven home games of the regular season.

A DEBUT TO REMEMBER

Midfielder Tomas Pondeca made his first FC Dallas start tonight. Pondeca made his MLS debut on June 29 against FC Cincinnati and he logged nine minutes. Pondeca joined Bernard Kamungo as the second open trialist to sign with FC Dallas on December 15, 2023.

UP NEXT: DEFEAT KANSAS CITY

FC Dallas visits Sporting Kansas City on Sunday, July 7 from Children's Mercy Park. The match will kick off at 7:30PM CT. On Wednesday, July 10, FC Dallas takes on Sporting Kansas City in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals from Children's Mercy Park. The match will kick off at 8PM CT. Both matches 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

The team's shift of mentality...

"Resilience, resilience from the team. That was huge today. After the first half, we were very passive with nothing offensively. The only thing about the first half that I liked was the compactness of the team. We were compact, but no one making runs, no one even putting more pressure on the ball or playing with the ball. When Evander is on the ball, we need to put more pressure, because he's a high level, quality player."

On the second half...

"The halftime talk, maybe it's better for me to not say anything. It was a hard talk, but at the same time, we told them to believe. We felt that we could score in the second half. The second half we showed character. We are in a very hard situation right now in the club and with the team, with so many injuries to very important players. Tomas Pondeca had his first start today and I'm very happy with the energy and the quality that he brought. We scored on a set piece as well."

Forward Petar Musa

On the difference between the first and second halves tonight...

"We were not that good in the first half, and in the second half, we stayed strong and we started to play more vertically. In the end, we deserved to win and I'm really happy we got this win for our fans in this great atmosphere tonight."

On reaching double-digit goals scored this year...

"I am happy with my goals but for me, it's not about just the goals. We want to win every single game and I want to help the team. I'm more focused on winning every game. So if I score I'm happy, but it's more important that we won."

Midfielder Sebastian Lletget

On the difference from the first to second half...

"I think our pace in the first half was lacking and we knew that. We created a couple of chances here and there but our buildup was kind of slow, so we knew to increase the pace and that was the biggest change in the second half."

On his assist to Nkosi Tafari...

"Oh man, we're loving that play right now. It is something that we work on in training and it set up that way and I'm so glad that the ball left my foot and went exactly where I wanted it to and Nkosi with the header."

On two-game matchup against Sporting Kansas City...

"Unity, man. We really have to stick together. We know that the Open Cup is a huge game for us, but we built a lot of momentum tonight and now we have to carry it on to Sunday."

Check out the FC Dallas Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board...

Major League Soccer Stories from July 4, 2024


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