FRISCO, Texas — It was not a pleasant homecoming for Texas native Kenny Cooper.
In Cooper's return to Pizza Hut Park, his Portland Timbers were overwhelmed by FC Dallas, 4-0, on Saturday behind goals from Zach Loyd, George John, Brek Shea and Ruben Luna.
Portland won the first ever matchup between the two sides, 3-2, two months ago at JELD-WEN Field, but they could not rekindle their magic as Dallas outnumbered them in nearly every offensive category.
In the 33rd minute, Loyd headed home his first career goal off a Daniel Hernandez corner kick, and center back George John followed suit five minutes later—also with a header on a set-piece—for his second of the season.
In the second half, FCD utility man Jackson Gonçalves kept Rodney Wallace on his heels, making runs at the defender—and it paid off early.
Jackson laced a through-ball to Eric Alexander, who fired at Timbers goalkeeper Troy Perkins. The ball rolled away from Perkins' dive and hit the far post, leaving Shea with an open goal to score his team-leading seventh goal of the year.
Near end time, Luna added the knockout punch with a finishing header after Perkins had parried Jackson's looping shot into the air, sending the crowd at Pizza Hut Park into a frenzy.
The game marked not only the return of former FC Dallas star Cooper but also the return to the bench for Timbers head coach John Spencer. Spencer served a one-game suspension following his comments about the referees in a recent league match.
The loss was the Timbers fourth in their last five games and the expansion side currently sits in seventh place in the Western Conference with 18 points.
With the LA Galaxy's scoreless draw Saturday evening, FC Dallas gained two points and sit four back of the Western Conference leaders with two games in hand.
The Timbers return to action next Saturday against Sporting Kansas City at JELD-WEN Field while FC Dallas stay at Pizza Hut Park and host the Columbus Crew next weekend.
Scoring Summary:
DAL -- Zach Loyd 1 (Daniel Hernandez 2) 33
DAL -- George John 2 (Daniel Hernandez 3) 38
DAL -- Brek Shea 7 (unassisted) 58
DAL -- Ruben Luna 1 (unassisted) 85
Misconduct Summary:
NONE
Lineups:
Portland Timbers -- Troy Perkins, Jeremy Hall, Eric Brunner, Mamadou Danso, Rodney Wallace, Darlington Nagbe (Adam Moffat 46), Diego Chara, Jack Jewsbury, Kalif Alhassan (Sal Zizzo 57), Kenny Cooper, Jorge Perlaza (Eddie Johnson 63).
Substitutes Not Used: Kevin Goldthwaite, Ryan Pore, Steve Purdy, Adin Brown.
FC Dallas -- Kevin Hartman, Zach Loyd, Ugo Ihemelu, George John, Jair Benitez, Eric Alexander (Eric Avila 76), Daniel Hernandez, Andrew Jacobson (Bobby Warshaw 68), Jackson Goncalves, Marvin Chavez (Ruben Luna 78), Brek Shea.
Substitutes Not Used: Bruno Guarda, Milton Rodriguez, Ricardo Villar, Chris Seitz.
Referee: Elias Bazakos
Referee's Assistants: George Gansner; Eric Boria
4th Official: Alex Prus
Attendance: 10,470
Time of Game: 1:45
Weather: Clear and 95 degrees
