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MLS FC Dallas

Late-Game Heroics Propel FC Dallas to 1-0 Win Over Austin FC

August 26, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas (9-9-6, 33 points) defeats Austin FC (9-11-5, 32 points) thanks to a late goal from defender Nkosi Tafari in the 97th minute of play on Saturday night at Toyota Stadium.

RECORD VERSUS AUSTIN FC

FC Dallas is 2-1-0 against Austin in 2023 and 5-1-2 all-time against its I-35 rivals in regular season play.

NO QUIT

FC Dallas have scored 10 goals in the last 15 minutes of the second half, only Atlanta United (16) and DC United (13) have scored more in Major League Soccer this season.

THE LUCKY THIRD

Nkosi Tafari scored his third goal and first game-winning goal of the season for FC Dallas. The goal gave Dallas the win against Copa Tejas rival Austin FC in the last minute of the match. Defensively, Tafari recorded three clearances, an interception, nullifying the Austin FC offense to only two shots on target.

EL DEBUT

Midfielder Asier Illarramendi made his FC Dallas debut in the 58th minute of the match. The former Real Sociedad and Real Madrid midfielder becomes the 10th player to make his debut for Dallas in the 2023 season. Illarramendi signed with FCD as a free agent on August 3.

SIX CLEAN SHEETS FOR PAES

Goalkeeper Maarten Paes continues to impress behind the sticks as he registered his sixth clean sheet of the 2023 MLS regular season. Paes finished the match with two crucial saves helping Dallas continue its home unbeaten streak against Austin FC.

UP NEXT

FC Dallas returns to MLS action with a road trip to St. Louis CITY SC on Wednesday, August 30. The match kicks off at 7:30PM CT on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, the FC Dallas app, Talk Radio 1190AM and TUDN 1270AM.

Lineups

FC Dallas - Maarten Paes; Geovane Jesus (Ema Twumasi - 30'), José Martínez (Dante Sealy, - 85'), Marco Farfan, Nkosi Tafari; Facundo Quignon, Sebastian Lletget (Asier Illarramendi - 58'), Alan Velasco, Paul Arriola; Jesús Jiménez (Jáder Obrian - 58'), Bernard Kamungo (Eugene Ansah - 46').

Substitutes not used - Jimmy Maurer, Paxton Pomykal, Sebastien Ibeagha, Sam Junqua.

Austin FC - Brad Stuver; Nick Lima, Julio Cascante, Matt Hedges, Jon Gallagher; Owen Wolff, (Adam Lundkvist - 77') , Dani Perreira, Alex Ring (Will Bruin - 62'); Ethan Finlay - 77'), Jhojan Valencia, Sebastian Driussi, (Gyasi Zardes- 85') , Emiliano Rigoni (Memo Rodríguez - 62').

Substitutes not used - Matt Bersano, Leo Väisänen, Hector Jimenez, CJ Fodrey.

Scoring Summary:

DAL: Nkosi Tafari (Marco Farfan) - 90'+7'

Misconduct Summary:

DAL: Paul Arriola (caution) - 13'

DAL: Marco Farfan (caution) - 27'

ATX: Dani Perreira (caution) - 45'

DAL: Jesús Jiménez (caution) - 56'

ATX: Dani Perreira (caution) - 67'

DAL: Asier Illaramendi (caution) - 74'

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 105ºF

Attendance: 18,267

FC DALLAS POSTGAME QUOTES

Head Coach Nico Estévez

Thoughts on tonight's game...

"We knew it was not going to be an easy game. Austin is a great team, and they have many talented players. We knew that with them coming from a loss they were going to have a big response in tonight's game. We prepared very well even though we had not played in over 20 days and it was sloppy, but we managed to break their great defense and penetrate to get the ball in the net".

On the importance of winning the Texas Derby...

"It is always important to win these kinds of games. We played well tonight and had several opportunities to score but it was not easy. After Austin lost a man they made everything even harder for us. We fought until the end and it reflected in the field, and us persisting physically and mentally is what allowed us to win the game tonight".

Forward Paul Arriola

On tonight's game...

"Obviously it feels great to get the three points tonight. It definitely wasn't our prettiest game but at this point of the season we have to take the win no matter what. That has to be our mentality from the start. If things aren't going our way or we're having an off-day tactically and the other team is doing something we're not used to, we need to adapt and find a way to win. We showed strength when they got a red card and we were able to take control of the game. The team showed a strong mentality from the way we kept pushing and pushing, and it was a great win that we definitely needed to put us back into a spot to continue climbing up the standings. We have more games coming and all we need to think about is winning each game until the end of the season."

On playing the full game...

"I wasn't always planning to play the whole game tonight. It was up in the air how long I would last but with the game being tight Nico told me before I would stay in if I felt good and I said of course. It felt great to be out there starting, and I'm really emotional right now with the loss of my mother-in-law, so being able to go out and play for her gave me an extra boost and more strength which made the victory feel that much sweeter

tonight."

On Nkosi Tafari's impact...

"Nkosi has been great this season. He's obviously one of the key guys on our team right now and he's played great all year. He's really stepped up in the position and role the coaches have given him. The goal was great, it was a play that makes the difference in games like this. Winning games comes down to doing the little things like sustaining attacks and having chances to finish opportunities like that. I'm really happy for Nkosi and he deserves it. He needs to keep going and we as a team need to keep going in order to get ready for St. Louis."

Defender Marco Farfan

Thoughts on tonight's match...

"It feels great that we were able to come away with three points in the Texas Derby game here in front of our fans at home. It feels great knowing that this team, this group here is mentally strong."

On what he saw during his game-winning assist...

"Obviously Nkosi has been able to capitalize last year and this year on a couple of goals where he goes up during the game. On that cross, I just saw the opportunity where everybody was dropping in and thinking there was going to be a long throw. I saw a lot of space for me to receive the ball and when I got it, I saw a lot of the big bodies there and just put it right where they're at. They did the rest of the job."

On how important this win is for confidence moving forward...

"It's important. Obviously we want to win here and get some confidence. But now it's enjoy it for a little bit and now move on tomorrow. Tomorrow we flip the page and it's gonna be a new be a new game against St. Louis and it's not going to be easy. We're looking forward to it."

Defender Nkosi Tafari

On the manner of the win...

"It's massive. It could've been the first game of the season, if we're playing Austin I'd like to beat them as bad as we can. We need to start to play better but this win can help us get the form that we need going into the last 10 games of the season."

On keeping the shutout...

"It's just as big as the win. We did everything we should be doing tonight in terms of the result. In terms of the play on the field, it wasn't great. But the result of winning and getting a shutout at home, if you do that every game you'd be a champion. We did what we were supposed to tonight."

On his goal-scoring threat this season (3 goals, 2 assists)...

"It's something I've always had, it's more of a mindset. I wanted to get more goals and assists this season and you can see I've been going forward more and getting in crosses and getting in the box for headers. At the end of the game, just getting in the box and getting the first contact, sometimes it just goes into the net."

Midfielder Asier Illaramendi

On his debut tonight...

"I am very happy to finally be able to debut and especially in a Derby game as it was very important to take the three points. I am glad I was able to help the team, we fought hard and it is important to keep working hard and be in playoff positions".

On the upcoming games....

"The team is ready for the upcoming games. We showed it tonight and we are ready to finish the season strong. I trust my team and I know that we are physically and mentally ready for the upcoming week".

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