SEATTLE — Welcome back to Keeping Score: Your complete FC Dallas match day experience.
The history between FC Dallas and Seattle, particularly in the playoffs, was not a welcoming sight for Toros fans. Entering Monday's match, Seattle was unbeaten against FC Dallas in 17 straight matches at home, including playoffs (13 wins and four draws), dating back to 2012. Both squads were tied for the longest active unbeaten streak in the MLS at nine games apiece (four wins and five draws for Seattle; two wins and seven draws for FC Dallas).
The only time FC Dallas had ever beaten Seattle in their five playoff meetings was in a two-leg aggregate victory in the 2015 conference semi-finals.
Here's how the match played out on Monday night:
Seattle dominated possession in the first half, 63% to 37%, and put more than double the shots on goal than FC Dallas did (five to two). It remained scoreless until a defensive error got Seattle on the scoresheet.
In the final minutes of the first half, Cristian Roldan drove the ball toward the endline and was fouled by Marco Farfan inside the box, awarding a penalty kick to Seattle. Albert Rusnák went to the spot for the Sounders and buried the opening goal in the bottom left corner, despite Maarten Paes getting a hand on it.
Paes had three saves in the first half, including a diving one-handed stop to keep it tied 0-0, moments before the penalty. Paes even got a hand on the penalty kick that ultimately went in anyway.
Alan Velasco was replaced in the first half by Liam Fraser after suffering a left leg contusion, according to the Apple TV broadcast. Velasco got injured in the 12th minute after an awkward collision with Sounders defender Alex Roldan. Velasco played on for a few minutes but went down again on his own volition, signaling for a sub and grabbing at his lower leg. Nico Estevez refrained from giving specifics on Velasco's injury after the match, saying they needed to do more testing before commenting on it.
Jordan Morris all but closed the door shut on an FC Dallas comeback, putting the Sounders up by two with a header off a cross from Nouhou.
Frisco Foodie Fun
No food here, and I won't on Saturday, unfortunately, because I am on a soft food diet for the next two weeks after getting a dental procedure (yaaaaaaaaaay). But, there is a season's worth of reviews of the yummy concessions at Toyota Stadium.
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
Honestly, it's tough for me to pick a man of the match in this one. Paes made some key saves to keep it worse than the scoreboard indicated.
Nkosi Tafari would probably be my pick, though, given that he stopped a few scoring chances on the doorstep, while also producing some goal scoring opportunities from his center back spot. You know Tafari would have loved a win in his homecoming, though.
What they said
Head Coach Nico Estévez
Thoughts on the performance…
“In the second half, we didn’t bring the energy that we had in the first half. It was difficult for us to control the game. We changed the formation to see if we could do something different. I think we got more control on long balls and playing in behind but we were a little bit disorganized in the defensive shape and they found ways to hurt us. The second goal is a goal we shouldn’t allow, we have to defend better. They had one player and we had three defenders inside the box.”
On the first-half substitution following the injury to Alan Velasco…
“We had some restrictions on the bench because (Sebastian) Lletget and Bernard (Kamungo) could only play 25 minutes due to the injuries they had. We could either change the formation to play in a 4-4-2 with Jáder (Obrian) up top and Dante (Sealy) as a winger or could stick with the formation (4-3-3) and put Liam (Fraser) in there. Because we thought we were doing well when we decided to bring Liam in.”
On Alan Velasco’s injury status…
“We’ll have to do more testing, an MRI probably on Wednesday. We’ll have to do more testing to see what’s going on there.”
On the message to the team after the game…
“We approached the game in the right way. At the end of the day, these kinds of games are about details – as we've seen in all the games that have been played. When you have chances, you have to score it. We saw it yesterday with Kansas City, when they had the chances, they scored and they were able to win away. We had the chances but we didn't capitalize on those. Obviously when you play away, the opponent is going to have some chances because they are playing at home but I think we were controlling well, and details are making us not be able to win here. We have to be critical with our staff and our performances, collectively and individually. We need to see what things we can learn and we can do better. And when we play Saturday, the message is that we want to come back and play here.”
Defender Sebastien Ibeagha
On what can be corrected ahead of Saturday…
“We had a lack of energy which is unusual for us. We need to come in with more confidence and believe in ourselves. The penalty was a penalty but we needed to shrug that off immediately to get back into the game. We created two key chances before that penalty against us, which we should have put away. Those two chances could have changed the outcome of the game. It’s disappointing but we need to pick ourselves back up and bring more energy to the game.”
Midfielder Paxton Pomykal
On the team’s mentality…
“Another opportunity on Saturday. That's all we got to say about the game tonight. We need to turn the page and fortunately for us, it's best-of-3 so we are looking forward to the game at home.”
Defender Nkosi Tafari
On Nico’s message after the game…
“It was unacceptable and our energy was not there. It’s a playoff game against the Seattle Sounders FC, and we need to be aware of who we are playing and where we are playing. Outside of that, it’s 11 versus 11.”
On the missed opportunities tonight…
“It’s still a 90 minute game, regardless of whether they were to win 6-1 or 5-1. There’s no aggregate. A loss is a loss no matter how you look at it. The worst part about this for me was the loss of Alan (Velasco). That’s the most detrimental and he’s family and a brother to us. Outside of that, we know you have to win two games to advance anyways and we know we have to win a game in Seattle. Regardless we know what we have to do.”
Forward Paul Arriola
On the takeaways from the game…
“We know what to expect for next game. The beauty of the three-game series is being able to play the first one and then have another opportunity to come back, whether it’s a win or a loss. For us, I thought we did a great effort to match their intensity and their atmosphere all things considered. But it wasn’t enough. We didn’t take our chances, we gave up a penalty and when we were chasing the game they created better chances than we did and finished it. We’re looking forward to getting back to Dallas and looking forward to Saturday.”
On the pressure of Saturday’s must-win game…
“It’s going to be great. We have to step up, we know it wasn’t good enough tonight. But at the same time, we get a second chance and how often do you get a second chance in sports? We’re going to be ready, we know our fans are going to be rocking the stadium–just like Seattle’s were tonight. It should be fun and we’re going to come out flying.”
On the team’s missed chances…
“It’s kind of been our season whether it be myself or any of the other front three. But there’s no time to dwell on it. If you dwell on things it’s not going to lead to anything great for us. We’ll be professionals about moving onto the next game and what’s in front of us, not what’s in the past. We know what we have to do. We can create chances just like we did tonight. It’s about burying them and if we do it, we’ll win games.”
Injury update
- IN-GAME INJURY: Alan Velasco (left knee contusion)
- OUT: Geovane Jesus (right knee)
- OUT: Tarik Scott (season-ending knee injury)
- OUT: Facundo Quignon (undisclosed)
What's next/8 ball prediction
FC Dallas will host the Seattle Sounders for Game 2 of the best-of-three First Round series in the MLS Cup playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 4. You can watch the match here with MLS Season Pass. You can also purchase tickets to Game 2 from Toyota Stadium at fcdallastickets.com.
"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: 4/12
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