It’s Déjà vu all over again for FC Dallas

Frisco – FC Dallas threatened to get blown out of their own stadium by both Mother Nature and their opponents, the expansion Montreal Impact, on Saturday night at FC Dallas Stadium.  Dallas fell behind after a dubious penalty call gave Montreal the lead midway through the second half.  But the Toros overcame their collective ennui from the first half, tied the match, and then secured yet another late goal to win the match 2-1 and bid adieu to their opponents from Quebec.

The National Weather Service was reporting wind gusts of close to 40mph at kickoff and the northerly blowing winds threatened to alter the outcome of the match for most of the first half.  Impact goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts had difficulty kicking into the wind and judging the wind-blown long balls that FC Dallas’ back-line was frequently sending over the top.  Brek Shea almost had a goal gifted to him about 25 minutes into the match when Ricketts bobbled the ball on what should have been an easy catch.

Then the best chance of the half came in the 45th minute when Fabian Castillo had a 1-on-1 opportunity off of another long pass over the top, but his first touch was a bit heavy and he had to rush a shot that went right into the Montreal keeper’s gloves.  Overall there were few chances for both sides and FC Dallas was unable to duplicate the possession, crisp, short passing and buildup through the midfield that allowed them to dominate their last match against New England Revolution.

Schellas Hyndman surprisingly made two substitutions at the half and brought on Bruno Guarda and Bobby Warshaw.  He later explained during his post-match remarks that starters Andrew Jacobson and Hernan Pertuz were pulled because of injuries they had suffered during the first half.  Although Hyndman was forced into the changes because of injury, his switch from the 4-4-2 formation that the team started the match in to a 4-1-4-1 had the desired result of giving Dallas more midfield possession.  FCD looked like they were going to take control of the match as they started linking more passes together through the midfield and then creating good chances on Montreal’s goal.

But right at the match’s hour mark, Dallas defender Zach Lloyd made light contact with Impact midfielder Davy Arnaud’s back while they were inside FCD’s 18-yard box and both players ended up hitting the grass.  Referee Ramon Hernandez pointed straight to the penalty spot and Montreal striker Bernado Corradi converted into the top-left corner to put Montreal in front 1-0.

Dallas began to ramp up the pressure and had numerous opportunities to score during the next 15 minutes.  Finally in the 77th minute Dallas got their equalizer.  Daniel Hernandez sent in a right-to-left moving free kick from 23 yards away.  George John met the ball at the back left post and headed it across the goal and off of the crossbar.  The rebound bounced right at Blas Pèrez, who headed home his third goal of the season.

FC Dallas showed that they were far from satisfied with a draw as they continued to press forward for a game winner while the announced crowd of 16,164 loudly cheered them on.  It looked like their efforts would be for naught as the clock ticked toward the full 90, but once again the Toros were not to be denied their full three points.  A brilliant team goal started on the right sideline about 15 yards into the Impact’s half with a throw-in by Zach Lloyd.  Pèrez flicked Lloyd’s throw forward with his head right into a running Fabian Castillo’s path.  Castillo deftly split the Montreal defense with a through-ball that sent Brek Shea in on Donovan Ricketts 1-on-1.  Shea hit a powerful shot past Ricketts and into the back of the net in the 88th minute.  Dallas held onto their 2-1 advantage through 5 minutes of injury time to secure the win.

FC Dallas moves to 3-2-1 on the year and will be traveling to face the Vancouver Whitecaps in their next match.  This will be Dallas’ first visit to Vancouver’s newly renovated downtown stadium, BC Place, as last season they played the Whitecaps at their temporary facility, Empire Field.

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