FC DALLAS vs. NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
PIZZA HUT PARK, Frisco, Texas
April 24, 2008 | 7:30 p.m. CT (ESPN2)
WEEK # 5 | GAME # 29
The early-season leader in Major League Soccer, FC Dallas, returns home to face perennial Eastern Conference power New England Revolution on MLS Primetime Thursday. FC Dallas is the only unbeaten team remaining in MLS, with two wins and two draws in their first four matches. The Revolution, Eastern Conference champions each of the last three seasons, have had an up-and-down start, with two victories and a tie in their first five games.
REFEREE: Alex Prus. SAR (bench): Fabio Tovar; JAR (opposite): Jose Corro; 4th: Jair Marrufo
MLS Career: 124 games; FC/gm: 30.0; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 28; pens: 41
INJURY REPORT: FC DALLAS - OUT: GK Josh Lambo (jaw); MF David Wagenfuhr (concussion); MF Bobby Rhine (hip); QUESTIONABLE: MF Juan Toja (L quadriceps); MF Pablo Ricchetti (R groin) ... NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION - OUT: FW Taylor Twellman (R meniscus surgery); DOUBTFUL: DF Matt Britner (L knee sprain), MF Steve Ralston (L dislocated shoulder); QUESTIONABLE: DF Chris Albright (L ankle bone bruise), MF Jeff Larentowicz (R ankle sprain), MF Sainey Nyassi (R adductor strain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: NE: Mauricio Castro (through April 27)
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (29 meetings): FC Dallas 9 wins (1 shootout), 39 goals ... Revolution 19 wins (1 shootout), 55 goals ... Ties 1
AT DALLAS (15 meetings): FC Dallas 4 wins (0 shootout), 18 goals ... Revolution 10 wins (0 shootout), 25 goals ... Ties 1
• This is the first of two meetings between the clubs this season, the only one set for Pizza Hut Park. They will meet in their lone encounter at Gillette Stadium on June 8.
LAST YEAR (MLS):
4/29: DAL 0, NE 1 (Twellman 13)
9/15: NE 4, DAL 2 (Noonan 29, 65; Ralston 78; Smith 90 - Ruiz 35, 84)
• New England won the season series a year ago, winning both meetings between the clubs, one at each ground. It was the sixth time in the last seven seasons that the Revolution have won the season series.
• The clubs also met in last year's U.S. Open Cup Final, also won by New England in a 3-2 decision at Pizza Hut Park, capturing the club's first major honor in the process. Pat Noonan (21), Taylor Twellman (41) and Wells Thompson (57) scored for New England, while Arturo Alvarez (30) and Abe Thompson (64) scored for the Hoops.
• The Revolution have won seven of the last eight league meetings between the teams, dating back to Aug. 11, 2004. The only FC Dallas win in that time came on May 20, 2006, a 4-0 victory at Pizza Hut Park.
• New England's win on Aug. 4, 2001 ended a five-game winless string against Dallas. In the 13 meetings since, the Revolution have won 10 games, Dallas three.
• New England has defeated FC Dallas on three of the Revolution's four trips to Pizza Hut Park, twice in league play and last year's Open Cup Final. But, the Revs record all-time in Frisco is 3-3-0, with two defeats there in the MLS Cup Final (2005 vs. Los Angeles; 2006 vs. Houston).
• Coaches record: Steve Morrow v CHV: P2 W0 L2 D0 ... Steve Nicol vs. DAL: P13 W10 L3 D0
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas is the only unbeaten team remaining in Major League Soccer after going to Chivas USA and coming away with a 2-0 victory on Sunday afternoon. FC Dallas leads the Western Conference with eight points from four games, two points ahead of the Colorado Rapids and two points behind Kansas City for the league's best overall record.
LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA and FC Dallas were meeting for the second time already this season, after a late goal gave Chivas USA a share of the points in a 1-1 draw in the season opener at BMO Field.
• Against a makeshift Chivas team racked by injury and suspension, FC Dallas got off to a perfect start. Dax McCarty swung in a cross from the right flank, it was headed back across goal by Ricardinho, and Kenny Cooper came it to smash it into the top of the goal for the fifth-minute opener. It was Cooper's fourth goal on the campaign, all over the last three matches.
• The visitors closed out the victory 10 minutes from the end. A long ball out of the back by Arturo Alvarez was met by Abe Thompson running alone behind the Chivas defense. As he reached the penalty area, he cut inside to avoid two backtracking defenders and slid the ball inside the right-hand post for his first goal on the season.
• FCD head coach Steve Morrow made two changes to the team that defeated the New York Red Bulls 2-0 the previous Saturday. Pablo Richetti and Juan Toja were both unable to overcome injuries, and so they were replaced by Marcelo Saragosa and Ricardinho as Morrow opted for an adventurous attacking scheme.
• Here's Morrow's team (3-4-3): Dario Sala - Drew Moor, Duilio Davino, Adrian Serioux - Dax McCarty, Andre Rocha, Marcelo Saragosa, Blake Wagner (Brek Shea 86) - Arturo Alvarez (Aaron Pitchkolan 82), Kenny Cooper, Ricardinho (Abe Thompson 71). Substitutes Not Used: Eric Avila, Ray Burse, Michael Dello-Russo, Dominic Oduro
• "I think we started the game very well. We possessed the ball well early on. I think as each game has gone on through the start of the season we've started to move the ball a little better," Morrow said. "We came in here with some big players missing as well; we left Toja behind, Richetti behind, Bobby Rhine behind, so to put in the performance that we did is a credit to the guys. The subs came on and did a good job as well. It was a real team effort tonight."
TEAM NEWS
• With Juan Toja sidelined with a thigh injury and Pablo Ricchetti also unable to overcome a groin strain, Morrow went with three forwards, with Ricardinho and Arturo Alvarez playing off Kenny Cooper. Ricardinho recorded his second career assist.
• "I think his speed and Arturo's speed was important for us. We wanted to try to get behind the back line of Chivas and I thought we did that successfully early on with Ricardo and Arturo Alvarez. That was positive. I think all the forwards had good games," said Morrow.
• Said Cooper: "I have so much confidence in everyone in the squad. Ricardinho came in and played a part in the goal, Arturo's gotten off to an incredible start, Abe Thompson, you saw the quality of his finish. I feel we are lucky here to have a very deep squad and you know, hopefully we can take this positive start and get better and better."
• With Cooper's goal, FCD has never lost a game in which he has scored, an 18-match streak (15-0-3) spanning three seasons.
• "I'm not big into stats but Kenny's been doing great," said Morrow. "He's capable of scoring a goal a game if he puts his mind to it." Said Cooper: "I think it's just a coincidence."
• Cooper has scored in three consecutive games for the first time in his MLS career. He's second in the MLS Golden Boot standings, behind Landon Donovan, who has five goals."I've been fortunate all season long to get on the other side of some great services from my teammates," Cooper said.
• It was FC Dallas' second consecutive shutout and first on the road since a 1-0 win at Colorado on June 23, 2007.
• "We're definitely starting to see things come together a bit more. I don't think we played as well as we can over the 90 minutes. It's still early in the season, it's still early days, I still think there's room for improvement with the team," Morrow said. But to come (to Chivas), win 2-0 and get a clean sheet, is very, very positive."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
A 10-man New England Revolution got a second-half equalizer before finishing in a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls on Saturday evening at Giants Stadium. The Revolution are now tied for third place in the Eastern Conference with seven points from five matches, along with the Chicago Fire, three points behind the pace-setting Kansas City Wizards.
LAST MATCH
• The Red Bulls were back home after losing their match of the season, at FC Dallas, while the Revolution were also coming off a loss, a 1-0 defeat by Colorado at Gillette Stadium.
• Jozy Altidore, who was able to start in tandem with Juan Pablo Angel for the first time on the campaign, scored a stunning goal to put New York ahead after 30 minutes. Taking the ball in the midfield circle, the 18-year-old thundered downfield through a pair of Revs defenders and then rifled a shot under the crossbar from just inside the area for his first goal of the year.
• The game changed just after the second-half restart. Red Bulls defender Kevin Goldthwaite knocked New England midfielder Mauricio Castro to the ground and was booked. But while on the turf, Castro aimed a kick at Goldthwaite's groin, and was sent off by referee Ricardo Salazar.
• Still, the Revolution found the equalizer. After Adam Cristman went down in the restraining arc, Jeff Larentowicz ripped the resulting free kick outside the right edge of the Red Bulls wall where a hole had just opened, and the ball sailed inside of Jon Conway for the eventual equalizer.
• Revolution head coach Steve Nicol made no changes to the team that lost 1-0 at home to the Colorado Rapids the weekend before.
• Here's Nicol's team (3-4-1-2): Matt Reis - Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, Amaechi Igwe - Sainey Nyassi, Jeff Larentowicz, Shalrie Joseph, Khano Smith (Wells Thompson 84) - Mauricio Castro - Kenny Mansally (Kheli Dube 77), Adam Cristman (Chase Hilgenbrinck 69). Substitutes Not Used: Argenis Fernandez, Gary Flood, Rob Valentino, Doug Warren
• "The guys showed you tonight what they're all about. Only 10 men and one-nil down, we get a point. It shows you the character of the club," Nicol said.
TEAM NEWS
• When Castro was sent off, the Revolution stayed with two forwards and four men in the midfield. The Larentowicz free kick pulled New England back to level terms, but they decided to stay there for the last 20 minutes when defender Chase Hilgenbrinck came on for striker Adam Cristman.
• "They were 1-nil up, it was a fantastic finish [by Altidore], but [Reis] could have been sitting beside me in the first half," Nicol said. "We went down to 10 men in the second half but, even then, we wanted to get something out of the game, so we decided to keep it as is. We wanted to win the game. But they opened us up a couple times late in the game, so we decided to keep what we had."
• Before Castro was sent off, Nicol said his team struggled to create any real quality chances through the Honduran international. Both the Revs and Red Bulls played 3-5-2 schemes, resulting in a bit of a tactical stalemate. FC Dallas has also played a similar system.
• "You've got so many guys in there, it's tough to get him space," Nicol said. "It seemed like there were 20 guys in the midfield."
• Reis has played every minute of every league match and MLS Cup Playoffs match for the Revolution since September 2005, a span of 83 matches in MLS competitions.
• "He's a great goalkeeper and I certainly don't want anyone else between the pipes in this league other than him. He's the best goalie in this league, that's for sure," Nicol said.
• The Revolution head to Dallas for the third road match of the season. In the first, they were on the wrong end of a 4-0 drubbing in Chicago, then rescued the point after going a man down in New York.
• "It's a tough situation. All things considered in the Chicago game, we were a little behind the 8-ball in a lot of ways," Larentowicz said. "(Saturday), we came together as a team and they started throwing us forward as they always seem to do here when we're up a goal. It goes to show that we've dealt with it before and I think we dealt with it again."
• Castro's suspension will be just one more man-game lost by the Revolution this season. "It's been a tough start to the year, we've had to plug some holes," Reis said to The Boston Globe. "We've had to plug in people where they are needed instead of doing it for tactical purposes where we can take advantage of situations and exploit teams. But the minutes and the experience everyone is getting is going to help in the long run."
