Clarence Goodson clearing a quick shot by Herculez Gomez from a corner out of the goalmouth with Burse seemingly beaten.
• FC Dallas head coach Steve Morrow made two changes to the team that came back to claim a remarkable 3-3 draw in their last league match, July 14 at D.C. United. Pablo Ricchetti and Dax McCarty came back from injury and international duty respectively, returning to the deep-lying central midfield roles in place of Bobby Rhine and Marcelo Saragosa.
• Here's Morrow's team (4-2-3-1): Ray Burse - Drew Moor, Adrian Serioux, Clarence Goodson, Chris Gbandi - Dax McCarty (Bobby Rhine 83), Pablo Ricchetti - Arturo Alvarez, Juan Toja, Dominic Oduro (Marcelo Saragosa 67) - Carlos Ruiz (Abe Thompson 77). Substitutes Not Used: Boris Pardo, Aaron Pitchkolan, David Wagenfuhr, Anthony Wallace
• "I'm very pleased with the 1-0 win tonight. A lot of credit to the boys -- we had a lot of tired legs out there. We have had three very tough games in SuperLiga and knew there would be a hangover from them because it was such a tough stretch for us," said Morrow. "Colorado threw a lot at us and had a lot of offense on the field at the end. We did well in the first half but couldn't control the ball as well in the second half and that might have eased the pressure on us a little bit."
TEAM NEWS
• FC Dallas last lost a league game on June 17. But after two wins and two draws heading into SuperLiga, the Hoops played to draws against a pair of Mexican clubs in Guadalajara and Pachuca before the loss to the Galaxy that eliminated them.
• "Obviously, it's good to get three points at home after we haven't played a league game in a while," Hoops right back Drew Moor said. "We still feel like put together a more complete game for 90 minutes. There were times there in the second half where we didn't keep the ball well enough and fortunately, we were able to absorb the pressure."
• Burse, who was making his MLS debut, made four saves and helped FCD keep a clean sheet. Burse had played in a pair of friendlies against Tigres UANL in the Rio Grande Plate, and then made his full first-team debut in the SuperLiga opener against Chivas de Guadalajara, a 1-1 tie.
• "A lot of credit to him -- he made some great saves," Morrow said about Burse's performance. "I can think of three or four big saves he made that kept us in the game. He might have showed his inexperience as well, but I have nothing but praise for him." Said Burse: "A shutout is always good. I felt like I did well on some chances but there are other things that I still feel like I definitely need to work on. This is a great learning opportunity and I will just move on from this."
• In addition, FCD was aided by the return of McCarty to the starting 11. The second-year midfielder made his first start since June 13 after spending late June and much of July with the U.S. team at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada.
• "Dax played very well," Morrow said. "He tired a little bit toward the end. He hasn't had as much football lately as he would have liked, so he's probably a little short on match fitness. I thought he showed a lot of quality on the ball, especially in the first half. ... It was a great ball from Dax on the goal that we scored."
• On Tuesday, FC Dallas reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup for the sixth time in club history after a tense 2-1 victory in extra time against the USL First Division (second tier) Charleston Battery at Blackbaud Stadium in Charleston, S.C. A wonder goal from one-time MLS veteran Stephen Armstrong gave the home side a 17th-minute lead, but Clarence Goodson headed home a corner kick six minutes later to pull FCD level. Five minutes into the extra period, Arturo Alvarez cut in from the right and lashed home a shot inside the near post to send the Hoops into a semifinal meeting with the Seattle Sounders, who hammered the Colorado Rapids 5-0 in their quarterfinal meeting, also on Tuesday. The game will be played Sept. 4 in Seattle.
• "We said before the game that if we play our own game and played our own soccer, that eventually our quality should come through," said Morrow. "And we fought hard all night. We matched their commitment, and I think we showed a lot of composure and calmness. We didn't get all the goals we wanted, but got the result in the end."
• Here's Morrow's team: Ray Burse, Chris Gbandi, Clarence Goodson, Adrian Serioux, Drew Moor, Pablo Ricchetti, Marcelo Saragosa (Bobby Rhine 72), Arturo Alvarez (David Wagenfuhr 99), Juan Toja (Dominic Oduro 46), Dax McCarty (Aaron Pitchkolan 114), Abe Thompson. Subs not used: Boris Pardo (GK), Michael Dello-Russo, Anthony Wallace
COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew have lost just once in their last nine games after playing to a scoreless draw against the Chicago Fire last Saturday night at Toyota Park. The Crew have 26 points from 19 matches but now sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, a point behind the third-place tie between D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls and three points behind second-place Kansas City Wizards.
LAST MATCH
• The Fire were coming off a 3-0 win in Toronto that put an end to a six-game winless streak, while the Crew rebounded from their first loss in six games in their last match, a 2-0 win against TFC.
• Before an overflow crowd in Bridgeview, Blanco started for the Men in Red in a playmaking role behind the front two. As the crowd cheered nearly every touch he made, he suffered 12 fouls on the night, an MLS single-game record.
• The Crew's Argentinean playmaker, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, was most dangerous from set piece opportunities. Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens, who was called upon to make four saves of the night, stopped Andy Herron from close range with three minutes remaining to preserve his sixth clean sheet on the season.
• For the second successive match, Crew head coach Sigi Schmid kept his team the same, maintaining the XI that defeated Toronto FC at home on July 22.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-2-3-1): Will Hesmer - Frankie Hejduk, Marcos Gonzalez, Chad Marshall, Stefani Miglioranzi - Danny Szetela, Danny O'Rourke - Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Ned Grabavoy (Duncan Oughton 88), Eddie Gaven (Andy Herron 68) - Alejandro Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Andy Gruenebaum, Ezra Hendrickson, Rusty Pierce, Robbie Rogers, Ricardo Virtuoso
• "Yes, obviously our mindset when we came in the second half, we want to win it. But if we are not going to win it, we are not going to lose it. I thought we did a good job. I didn't think we gave away a lot of chances," Schmid said. "The best chance was the one what Wanchope got late in the second half and that is one he should have done a lot better with. We had a scramble in front of the goal, I think we had two or three of those. There was a chance Stefani [Miglioranzi] had in the first half off the set piece."
TEAM NEWS
• Clearly, stifling the influence of Cuauhtémoc Blanco on the game was a key tactic heading into the match. Despite the large number of fouls committed, Blanco was largely kept quiet.
• "I thought we did a pretty good job taking away his time and space. In first half I thought we defended a little bit more than we would have liked, in the second half I thought we did a better job at knocking the ball around," Schmid said. "When you look at it, we had some pretty clean chances in the game. We created some chances. Their chances came from a lot of free kicks. There were a lot of calls, I don't know, you have to look at the tape and see. It was a hard-fought game."
• Still, there was some concern that Blanco was "selling" some fouls, though Schmid acknowledged creative, attacking play needs to be encouraged.
• "Yes, we need to see that, but I think if a guy gets fouled it needs to be called and if guy is not fouled it shouldn't be called. I think that is something the referee has to decide at the end of the day," Schmid said. "For me, I can't comment on whether there were good calls, bad calls. There were a lot of calls."
• The result kept the Crew in contact with the top teams in the Eastern Conference. While still in fifth place in the division, just seven points separated first to fifth, and after the weekend, the Crew were just three points behind the second and final automatic playoff spot in the conference. The Crew haven't qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs in two seasons, though if the season ended today, they would qualify as the team with the eighth-best overall record.
• "I don't think we are feeling any pressure. I think we take it one game at a time. I think we try to go all out and get a result. Tonight we didn't get three points but I know we want to. We picked up a point on the road," said Ned Grabavoy. "If we can take care of business at home like we've been doing, and pick up points here and there on the road, I think we will be all right. I think pretty much every game our team has played this year we've had a chance to win the game. Saying that, that gives us confidence to go on the road and play against any team in the league."
