NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



FC Dallas

FC Dallas Splits Points in Scoreless Draw against San Jose Earthquakes

April 27, 2019 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


Frisco, Texas - FC Dallas split points with San Jose Earthquakes in a scoreless draw Saturday afternoon at Toyota Stadium.

Game Summary

First Half:

1' - Bryan Acosta tested Daniel Vega in goal with a curling shot from the edge of the box but the keeper was able to punch it away.

17' - Danny Hoesen attempted to tap the ball in after connecting with Magnus Eriksson outside the six-yard box, but Jesse Gonzalez makes the block.

38' - Jesus Ferreira and Paxton Pomykal exchanged quick passes on the edge of San Jose's box to set Pomykal free but he's unable to keep the ball in play.

39' - Reggie Cannon attempted a left-footed curling shot from the edge of the box but it just went wide of Vega's goal.

40' - Cristian Espinoza received the ball in the box from a layoff from Hoesen and forced Gonzalez to make a one-handed save to prevent San Jose from opening the scoring.

Second Half:

63' - Michael Barrios broke in from the left for a shot inside the box straight on Daniel Vega in goal.

66' - Ryan Hollingshead with a sizzling shot attempt from the left corner of the box just outside San Jose's right post.

71' - Barrios inches away from scoring the first goal of the game after a low cross towards the right post from Dominique Badji.

82' - Pablo Aranguiz attempted a shot from distance that Vega made a comfortable save on.

90+1' - Valeri Qazaishvili with a curled shot outside the box that forced Jesse Gonzalez to a stretch out to make the save.

Lineups:

FC Dallas - Jesse González; Ryan Hollingshead, Reto Ziegler, Matt Hedges, Reggie Cannon; Bryan Acosta (Santiago Mosquera - 64'), Edwin Cerrillo, Carlos Gruezo; Paxton Pomykal (Dominique Badji - 46'), Jesús Ferreira (Pablo Aránguiz - 78'), Michael Barrios.

Substitutes not used - Jimmy Maurer, Marquinhos Pedroso, Jacori Hayes, John Nelson.

San Jose Earthquakes - Daniel Vega; Nick Lima, Florian Jungwirth, Harold Cummings (Valeri Qazaishvili - 87'), Tommy Thompson; Anibal Godoy; Shea Salinas (Judson - 69'), Jackson Yueill, Magnus Eriksson (Chris Wondolowski - 83'), Cristian Espinoza; Danny Hoesen.

Substitutes not used - Andrew Tarbell, Marcos López, Paul Marie, Eric Calvillo.

Scoring Summary:

NONE

Misconduct Summary:

FCD: Michael Barrios (caution) - 43'

SJ: Anibal Godoy (caution) - 46'

SJ: Tommy Thompson (caution) - 90'+2'

Weather: Mostly Sunny, 82

Attendance: 14,087

Referee: Ramy Touchan

Assistant Referees: Kathryn Nesbitt, Gjovalin Bori

4th Official: Malik Badawi

VAR Official: Geoff Gamble

FC Dallas head coach Luchi Gonzalez

Overall thoughts on tonight's match...

Tale of two halves again. We were fortunate to get the draw considering how the momentum was at the end of the game. Important point, again, considering how the game was at the end. We'll take that, but we are going to be critical with ourselves and honest. We just had a really good talk after the game about being honest with the things we want to improve.

The first half was positive, we created some good chances. The sun came out and both teams were feeling heat neither had felt yet, so both teams had to be smart in terms of their concepts, taking care of the ball, and running smart as opposed to just running for the sake of running, so there was an adjustment there that we talked about before the game. But I felt we had great combinations to break their man-marking and we broke that and created opportunities, and there were almost some goals.

Second half, they continued their man-marking. We played into their hands, were less mobile, played more in front of them and there weren't movements in behind their midfield or last line. When we do that, the pressure catches up and we lose possession in front of them which allowed them to have transitions to go in goal and their attacks or sequences of recovery straight down the midfield or flank.

In our next step, we have to create more movements in behind the last line and the midfield and that will create more spaces and passing lanes so we can possess out of pressure and have more of the ball and create more. That will take more training and time, but the group is a winning mentality group and are not happy with the point at home. I have to be proud to work with a group that is not happy with that and want to do more for the fans and each other.

Thoughts on the shift...

A lot of it is mental. San Jose is a team that needs points and they need them right away. They are starting to understand the ways of their system and they saw success at Kansas City and Seattle. This is a team that's riding high on that idea, so it's mental and you feel that energy to push and for us it was having to deal with that. It's human nature when you are desperate and you need something bad, it's amazing how you can give the extra [energy]. We have to give that extra whether we have points or not, wherever we are on the table. We are going to make some tweaks in training this week to bring out what we feel is the extra in the run, winning the duel, winning the second ball, the recovery tackle. At the end of the game, the X's and O's are cast aside at a certain point and it's a mental game and it's about the duels. We want to improve on the duels and the tactical concepts to create more especially at home and on the road.

Thoughts on moving Paxton Pomykal in the formation and update on his injury...

Paxton [Pomykal] tweaked his hamstring, it doesn't look too serious, so it was out of caution. It wasn't worth pushing. Paxton we tried during the week on him being a full swinger and give us [Bryan] Acosta more as a 10, [Carlos] Gruezo as an eight and Edwin [Cerrillo] as a six, but defensively as a double-six. It looked good during training and Paxton was giving us that extra midfield player, so in the man-marking we wanted Paxton to give us that extra player in the midfield to break that.

On the team's mood after today's result...

The group is disappointed, and I love that because we want more, we want to show more for the fans, and we want to earn more. But it's not going to be easy. That's a heck of a team and I give them a lot of credit to San Jose and I look forward to the next time we get to play them, even if it's in the middle of Copa America, Gold Cup, U-20 World Cup, which we might be missing some pieces but that's a great opportunity for guys to step it up.

FC Dallas midfielder Bryan Acosta

Thoughts on today's game...

A bit disappointed in the result. We wanted to get three points but couldn't get them. Now it's time to rest and think about the next game that will be a difficult match as well and prepare to get three points.

Thoughts on San Jose's performance...

A very difficult team. They are growing and have been getting positive results. We knew it was going to be a very tough match and we had to adapt to the way they pressured us. We had to do our job and unfortunately we couldn't take advantage of the opportunities we had today. But like I said, it's time to turn the page and focus on Houston.

FC Dallas midfielder Edwin Cerrillo

Thoughts on today's game...

It's tough. Definitely disappointing we didn't get the three points at home. After the game, we all came into the locker room disappointed. Luchi [Gonzalez] gave us confidence, they didn't have an easy tactic to play against and we weren't familiar with it. But we are going to learn from this game and keep working hard and focus on the next game.

On today's chances...

The chances that we created gave us a little boost of confidence. But it's difficult to not have the ball and have to defend all the time. Overall tired that we had to defend like that. We have to keep training and keep pushing the game and keep imposing and stop being so reactive and keep working to get a better result next time.

On the heat affecting the teams...

There's no excuse on how we performed today. But it was difficult to play in the heat like that. But it goes beyond the conditions of the field and the weather, it's about our mentality and we have to be stronger than that.

FC Dallas defender Ryan Hollingshead

Overall thoughts on today's match...

They play a different style than a lot of other teams in the league with their man-to-man style. We couldn't figure it out, I don't know whether it was the heat or their style, but we just couldn't put it together or figure it out. We struggled playing out of that. We feel disappointed, feel like we lost some points at our home field.

Both teams had their chances and it could have gone either way. Our defense felt solid and held strong, but our offense just was not clicking in the last third. We were getting especially good counter attacks but couldn't really figure out how to finish them off.

On San Jose's style of play...

They had a good approach. They believe in what they're doing with their man marking. They're in a good form right now, coming off of a couple big wins and they're playing well together. I think in the beginning they were playing with different formations, figuring out what they wanted to do but they're playing better now. Still, at our home field and in the way we've been playing, we just expected to be better than that.

FC Dallas defender Matt Hedges

On San Jose's style of play...

Their man marking technique is pretty unique. I thought we played the first half pretty well. We moved the ball around and attacked when we had our chances, but I don't know why we stopped doing that in the second half and let them start pressuring us.

On the weather affecting today's match...

I mean, we should be used to it at this point. We've been playing in this type of weather for a while, so it's not really an excuse. You can bring it up and say that it's making us tired, but they're dealing with the same conditions, so it isn't something we can say was the problem.

San Jose Earthquakes head coach Matias Almeyda

Thoughts on the match...

I think we had an excellent game against a great opponent. The players were great interpreters in what we were looking for. It's an important point for us heading back home.

On weather affecting the team's fitness level...

I think physically we finished better than our rivals even though they were well rested heading into this game. Overall, I think the weather affected both teams at the end of the day.

On preparing for the next match...

We are going to have a day off, and then when the week starts, we will get back to work like we normally do thinking of our rival for the next match.

San Jose Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel Vega

Thoughts on the match...

I think the team had a good game. It showed in the second half because we were determined to get the three points. We made a great effort as a team and honestly it wasn't an easy game but overall, we are happy because we had a great performance. We'll be leaving here with a sour mouth feeling because we couldn't get the win.

On the weather being a factor in the game...

I think it [the weather] affected both teams today. It wasn't the most pleasant weather, but we are both young teams that like to run and be constantly moving. The game was flowing but it seemed they [FC Dallas] were getting worn out by the weather. We physically felt great and for most of the second half of the game I felt like were dominating in their area.

Taking this result heading into the next match...

We are going to rest after having two games in a week. We've had two long trips on the road and we still haven't returned home. We are going to head home tonight and rest tomorrow so we can start preparing for what is to come. We are growing as a team; it was a rough start, but I am happy we are starting to improve as one.

San Jose Earthquakes defender Florian Jungwirth

Thoughts on the match...

I think it was another great road performance. We had a few rough minutes at first where Dallas had the chance to score, but after that we clearly dominated the game. We had a few chances to score and then in the second half we had times where we were dominating. Overall it was a good point, where maybe we could've gotten three, but we are proud on this performance.

On team getting two good results on the road...

This team is growing, and we are starting to have more self-confidence from week to week. We believe in ourselves, we believe in our skills, and we believe in what we can do. In the past three games we had teams struggling with our philosophy and fighting spirit.

Plan for this upcoming week...

Rest is need for sure. We prepare like always in a good mood and we will battle Cincinnati and hopefully get our third home win.

Check out the FC Dallas Statistics

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

Major League Soccer Stories from April 27, 2019


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