FCD defender Clarence Goodson and Red Bulls goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-1-1): Ronald Waterreus (Jon Conway 46) - Hunter Freeman, Carlos Mendes, Jeff Parke, Todd Dunivant - Dane Richards, Dema Kovalenko, Seth Stammler, Dave van den Bergh - Clint Mathis - Josmer Altidore. Substitutes Not Used: Sal Caccavale, Tim Regan, Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Joe Vide, John Wolyniec, Marvell Wynne
• Here's Morrow's team (4-2-3-1): Shaka Hislop - Drew Moor, Alex Yi, Clarence Goodson (Bobby Rhine 48), David Wagenfuhr (Chris Gbandi 19) - Dax McCarty, Juan Toja - Arturo Alvarez (Dominic Oduro 72), Ramon Nunez, Kenny Cooper - Carlos Ruiz. Substitutes Not Used: Ray Burse, Aaron Pitchkolan, Abe Thompson, Anthony Wallace
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas returned home and made their 2007 Pizza Hut Park debut in fine fashion, returning to their winning ways with a 3-1 victory against the Colorado Rapids on Sunday afternoon. FCD continue to lead the Western Conference, now with seven points from four matches, a point ahead of Chivas USA in the division and level with the Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls for the most points in MLS.
LAST MATCH
• FC Dallas were finally back home after opening the season with three road matches and a cross-country trip -- from which the Hoops took four points -- while the Rapids were on the road for the first time in 2007 after opening the season with a win and a draw in their new Dick's Sporting Goods Park home.
• Before a sellout crowd in Frisco, Ramon Nunez -- who earlier in the week had received his green card -- put the Hoops in the lead in the 29th minute with a fine goal. Dax McCarty sprung Nunez with a long pass out of midfield, and after Nunez slipped around a defender at the edge of the area he banged home a low shot past Bouna Coundoul.
• But five minutes later the Rapids pulled level. Terry Cooke launched a long ball from well in his own half, and Jovan Kirovski chased it down with a defender on his back. Despite a hint of a handball, Kirovski brought the ball down and looped a perfect volley over the onrushing Shaka Hislop.
• Yet Nunez gave FCD the lead for good 12 minutes from the end with his second goal on the day. After the Honduras-born midfielder won a free kick outside the left corner of the area, he drilled a low drive past the wall and off Coundoul's hands inside the far post for the go-ahead strike.
• Then in stoppage time, FC Dallas finished off the match. Dominic Oduro set off on a loping run down the left flank and found Kenny Cooper in the area. While the Dallas native stood on the ball, Oduro continued his run behind Cooper into the heart of the area, and banged home Cooper's short pass for his second career MLS goal.
• FC Dallas boss Steve Morrow made two changes to the team that fell 3-0 to the Red Bulls the Sunday previous at the Meadowlands. Chris Gbandi returned to left back in place of the ailing David Wagenfuhr, while Aaron Pitchkolan came into the starting lineup in place of Arturo Alvarez as Morrow once again tweaked his system.
• Here's Morrow's team (4-3-1-2): Shaka Hislop - Drew Moor, Clarence Goodson, Alex Yi, Chris Gbandi - Dax McCarty (Bobby Rhine 88), Aaron Pitchkolan, Juan Toja - Ramon Nunez (Arturo Alvarez 81) - Kenny Cooper, Carlos Ruiz (Dominic Oduro 68). Substitutes Not Used: Ray Burse, Abe Thompson, Blake Wagner, Anthony Wallace
• "I'm very pleased with the victory; I think it was well deserved. We finished strong and I thought we played very well for the first 35 minutes or so. We dominated the game and gave up a very sloppy goal at a bad time when Colorado weren't even in the game," Morrow said. "... I think the second half was a little bit sloppy from us. I think we could have done better possessing the ball. That's how the game goes sometimes, and we took our chances in the end."
TEAM NEWS
• Heading into the Colorado match, Morrow was uncertain he would keep Nunez in his starting role. The fourth-year midfielder had missed nearly the entire week of training while in Honduras finalizing the process of receiving his green card.
• "I had a talk with him the first thing on Saturday morning and he was desperate to play," Morrow said. "That's all I had to hear from him. He kept himself fit during the week while he was down there and kept active. That was a good thing. He really wanted to play and I had no hesitation.
• "I told him when he came back on Friday night that it was questionable if I was going to start him. He'd been away all week and it was a great effort for him to come back and play that well with having not trained all week," Morrow continued. "I think he played well throughout the game. He got in good positions and was hard for the Colorado midfielders to pick up."
• After his two goals, Nunez has now scored five goals in his last three games against the Rapids. It was also his second career two-goal game - his first also came against Colorado, July 29, 2006 in a 4-1 win at Pizza Hut Park.
• "I don't know what it is," he said. "I just seem to like scoring against Colorado. It was a very busy week for me. I was down in Honduras trying to get my green card and was able to do that and get that out of the way. I came back on Friday and trained on Saturday. I felt good and sharp. We decided then that I was ready to start."
• Morrow again returned to Ruiz and Cooper as twin strikers, with Aaron Pitchkolan coming into the team for the first time in 2007 as a starter. "I felt like the midfield - Juan (Toja), Dax (McCarty) and I - worked well together," Nunez said. "We moved the ball very well and I think that's what opened Colorado up a bit and allowed us to get our spaces."
• McCarty was credited with his first MLS assist on Nunez's opening goal. "I talked with Steve and (assistant coach) Oscar (Pareja) before the game and maybe my first couple of games, I was sitting in, doing the simple things right and playing a bit defensive," McCarty said. "I talked to them before this game and told them that I could really help the team more by going forward. I really feel more comfortable being that two-way midfielder that I know I can be. They gave me free rein to do my thing."
• Carlos Ruiz started the game, but managed just one shot on the day. Morrow brought on the speedy Dominic Oduro for Ruiz in the 68th minute and later Oduro scored his second career MLS goal.
• "Carlos had a little bit of a tight hamstring in training all week and was a bit questionable going into the game," Morrow said. "I was a little concerned about it to be honest and I think it showed in his performance. I don't think he was himself today. So, I was protecting his injury and he wasn't playing great either. ... I felt that Dominic Oduro coming on would give us fresh legs on top. He is someone that would run behind their defense, which worked out well."
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls remain one of three teams still unbeaten on the season - while they are the only team yet to allow a goal - after a 1-0 victory against Houston Dynamo after going a man down last Saturday at Giants Stadium. The Red Bulls have seven points from three matches, tied with the Chicago Fire for the lead in the Eastern Conference.
LAST MATCH
• The Red Bulls came in with a win and a draw from two matches, still to concede a goal, facing a Houston Dynamo team that had scored just once in their opening two games in defense of their MLS Cup title, though they had allowed just one themselves.
• While Claudio Reyna was making his Giants Stadium debut for the Red Bulls, the match turned in the 36th minute when Clint Mathis -- who scored a goal and set up another the weekend before -- was sent off by referee Baldomero Toledo with a straight red card for a challenge on Ryan Cochrane.
• But Jozy Altidore, who had been dangerous all evening with little to show for it, finally converted one of his chances when took a pass at the edge of the area, spun around defender Eddie Robinson and hammered a shot over goalkeeper Pat Onstad, off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net for the game's lone goal
• Goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus kept a clean sheet for the second time on the season (he also played the first half of the win against FC Dallas) as the Red Bulls became the second team in MLS history to open the season with three consecutive shutouts. The first -- the Dallas Burn in 1999 -- allowed a goal in the 74th minute of their fourth match.
• Red Bulls manager Bruce Arena made one change to the team that defeated FC Dallas the Sunday before. Claudio Reyna made his Giants Stadium MLS debut, coming into the midfield in place of Seth Stammler as Clint Mathis remained in the first team.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-1-1): Ronald Waterreus - Hunter Freeman, Carlos Mendes, Jeff Parke, Todd Dunivant - Dane Richards (Seth Stammler 54), Dema Kovalenko, Claudio Reyna, Dave van den Bergh (Joe Vide 91+) - Clint Mathis - Josmer Altidore (John Wolyniec 74),. Substitutes Not Used: Sal Caccavale, Jon Conway, Tim Regan, Sinisa Ubiparipovic
• "I think it's a real good win obviously. Those games are never easy in those circumstances. We had to obviously play with 10 players for 60 minutes or so," Arena said. " ... I wanted this kind of exercise for our team; you have to learn to play in games like this. I told the team after the game, most teams lose this game and we won it. There's a lot of positive things that came out of the game."
TEAM NEWS
• After the third successive shutout, the Red Bulls are now 75 minutes away from setting a league record for a shutout streak to open the season. "Hunter (Freeman) was solid. I thought Hunter and Todd Dunivant played quite well. Our whole back line did," Arena said. "It was a really good effort from our guys. Give them credit, they played well. We've been limiting the chances our opponents have had. I think the leadership in goal has been good and our back line is maturing."
• Altidore led the Red Bulls with four shots on goal, but the one that found the back of the net was his only one credited with being on target. "Yeah, too many chances, almost," Altidore said. "I have to get better at that and every week I have to concentrate. Slowly I'm getting better, but still there's always room for improvement and I'm just happy that that last chance [worked out]."
• Said Arena: "Great goal. The last two games he's had a few chances. That's what strikers are supposed to do, score goals. He's showing some maturity. Instead of putting his head down, he waited for the next chance and he put it away ... Obviously, any time forwards score goals they have confidence. He has a long way to go, he's not yet established as a player. There are a lot of areas that he needs to get better. He knows that."
• The ability to come away with a result after playing a man down for nearly an hour also brought a sense of satisfaction to the Red Bulls players.
• "[I thought] 'dang.' It was tough from then on for all the guys. He went off with 20 minutes left in the first half, maybe more?," Altidore said "Then a whole half without him ... that just shows the character of our team this year - it's a different group, our mindset has changed - everything is new about us and it looked good out there."
• After missing the home opener with a thigh contusion suffered in the Red Bulls' first game in Columbus, Claudio Reyna finally made his Giants Stadium league debut in his home state.
• "The most important thing is that we won. The last 10 days I didn't train, so I think my legs will feel better in the next few games, but again, it turns out to be a game where we were on our back heels, defending for close to an hour against a good team, so I was pleased," he said. "... Everyone did that little bit extra, that extra 10 percent to win. For me it was great - family friends and my kids were here and my wife and all my family and friends were able to come, so it was a special day. My son played before the game, which was nice, and he won, so that was good."
