FRISCO, Texas — Editor's note: The video published above is quotes from players about facing the Colorado Rapids, which was rescheduled due to weather.
Welcome back to Keeping Score: Your complete FC Dallas match day experience.
FC Dallas entered the match against San Jose one spot below them in the Western Conference standings. Playoff implications were on the line, needing a win against San Jose and some help elsewhere in the league to clinch a berth by night's end.
The two clubs played to a 1-1 draw earlier in the season.
Things didn't start out too hot for the Toros in this match, allowing the opening goal to San Jose three minutes in. Jeremy Ebobisse slotted home a cross into the six-yard box for his 10th goal of the season.
FC Dallas trailed at halftime, 1-0. Neither club made any substitutions to begin the second half.
Jader Obrian scored his fifth goal of the season to tie the match in the 56th minute. Ferreira played the ball into space behind the backline of San Jose, finding Obrian for a right-footed finish.
U.S. men's national team product Cade Cowell subbed in for San Jose in the 63rd, as well as Jamiro Monteiro. Cowell made an impact quickly after coming onto the pitch, creating a scoring chance within minutes.
In the 73rd minute, FC Dallas had a three-on-one breakaway with Alan Velasco, Ferreira and Obrian. Velasco laid the ball off for Ferreira and the striker skied his shot over the goal into the stands.
FC Dallas' high press gave San Jose fits in the second half, but the Toros were unable to finish a handful of promising looks served into the box by Ferreira.
With the tie, FC Dallas grabbed a point a stayed above the playoff line in their No. 9 spot in the Western Conference standings. On a positive note for FC Dallas, they have an extra game left on their schedule after the Colorado game got rescheduled. The other clubs fighting for the final playoff spots in the West (San Jose, Sporting KC, Minnesota United and Portland) all only have Decision Day left on Oct. 21 and that's it.
Frisco Foodie Fun
Check out all the new mid-season additions here.
Here's my breakdown of the Toyota Stadium new concession rankings this season:
- Hot Chicken Mac N Cheese
- Double Patty Cherry Pepper Relish Burger.
- Double Stack Quesadilla
- Jerk Chicken Wings
- Funnel sticks with cherry sauce
- Monster Taco
- Elote on a stick
- Vegan tenders
- Birria Grilled Cheese
#DTID Man of the Match
I'm cheating this time and awarding two. Jader Obrian and Jesus Ferreira.
Ferreira played a great ball down the channel for Obrian to finish, but Ferreira set up numerous other scoring chances and was ruthless in the high press. Ferreira re-gained possession for FC Dallas in the opponent's third multiple times in the second half and had a handful of near assists.
Ferreira, with his quality, should have finished his scoring chance, but his impact on the game was undeniable.
What they said
Head Coach Nico Estévez
On tonight’s performance…
“We had a bad start over the first 10 minutes, we were not in the right spot mentally. We came in with too much stress and pressure. It was the first time that I noticed it this year. These players are human, and these things can happen. The goal was a mistake that we shouldn’t have conceded. The resilience that this team has, and how this team responds to adversity is a positive. You can say that things have not always gone our way this season, and we overcome that adversity. We controlled the game after the bad start.”
On combating San Jose’s style of play…
“San Jose is a playoff team; I don’t know how many teams we’ve played this month that are doing well and have good players. We wanted to be patient in the first half and move them a lot. You could see they were tired in the second half. And sometimes when a team comes just to defend and just to try to protect their goal from the beginning of the game. You have to be patient and it’s difficult. They play with energy and one of the best things that we did was show that patience. You didn’t see any crazy transitions and we controlled it really well. Sometimes that’s the most difficult thing. When we got into the right spots, we lacked a little bit of speed and urgency. We could’ve been a little cleaner in some of the actions and more connected in some of the runs. We cleaned that up at halftime. It was unlucky that we didn’t win this game.”
Midfielder Paxton Pomykal
On tonight’s game…
“It was a really disappointing start, I thought that we were really flat coming out in the first few minutes. That's unacceptable and we take responsibility for that. But in the last 75-plus minutes, we imposed our game pretty well and created chances. We got the goal and I feel like this team responds really well. We came back from a losing situation again and got a point out of it, so we control our own destiny at this point so at the end of the, the point meant a lot but we're disappointed that we didn't get three points.”
Goalkeeper Maarten Paes
On San Jose’s tough defense…
“When they added (Jonathan) Mensah for (Jeremy) Ebobisse, the space on the field was going to be very crowded and we needed to play over the wings while also putting bodies in front. If you have three center backs with their height, it’s very tough to win aerial duels so you have to combine passes quickly. It was very crowded, so it was hard for us, but we still managed to create some good chances.”
On turning draws into wins…
“If you score one more goal than the opponent you win. It’s also a little bit of luck as well, you saw the corner where the goalkeeper saved it then the ball through a deflection went back into the goalkeeper's hand. If we make sure to keep getting into those positions our luck will turn eventually.”
Forward Paul Arriola
Thoughts on tonight's result…
“Every game is different. We are fully confident as a team and the quality we reflect throughout the field. It is a season that has been difficult for us as the scores do not reflect what has been shown throughout the games. There have been several opportunities that we have let go, and that we know we are expected to finish. It has been our story this season, but the important thing is to be able to keep going, even though things have not been going our way as the season is still not over.
On the performance of the team…
“It has been a tough year for the team and me. Things have not gone the way we expected but the mentality and group effort of the team collectively push us to continue working hard and not put our heads down. There are many great qualities about this team, we have one of the best defenses in the league and moving forwards we have to continue to get better and not lose focus. This is the moment in which the big players have to show up and stand out in order for the team to clinch into playoffs.”
Defender Ema Twumasi
On the overall performance…
“We started very slowly the first ten minutes of the game, but after that we picked it up. San Jose got an early goal, but we let it go and kept fighting. We could have scored a few more goals, but we didn't. It's been that kind of month where we’ve been tying games. We need to get three points, so we will learn from this and move on to next weekend.”
On San Jose’s playstyle…
“San Jose setup to get a point on the road. Looking at the playoff spot they’re currently in, it’s clear they came here to just get a point. They were very compact defensively, so we had to move around, and I still felt like we created good chances. Unfortunately, tonight we only had one goal, so we have to give them credit and move on to the next game.”
Injury update
- Geovane Jesus (season ending knee injury)
- Tarik Scott (season ending knee injury)
- Sebastian Lletget (hamstring)
What's next/8 ball prediction
FC Dallas will host the Colorado Rapids in their rescheduled match on Saturday, Oct. 14. You can watch the match here with MLS Season Pass.
"8 ball" bold prediction tracker:
At the beginning of the season, I said FC Dallas would have three players score 12-plus goals this season: Jesus Ferreira, Paul Arriola and Alan Velasco. At least I got Ferreira correct! (major shrug)
- Ferreira: 12/12
- Arriola: 2/12
- Velasco: 3/12
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