Robbie Russell (Tony Beltran 10), Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Chris Wingert -- Javier Morales, Ned Grabavoy (Yura Movsisyan 46), Will Johnson, Clint Mathis (Andy Williams 91+) -- Robbie Findley, Fabian Espindola. Substitutes Not Used: Jean Alexandre, Pablo Campos, Raphael Cox, Chris Seitz
• Here's Hyndman's team (4-1-4-1): Ray Burse -- Drew Moor, George John (Daniel Torres 46), Pablo Ricchetti, Jair Benitez -- Dax McCarty -- Atiba Harris, David Ferreira, Andre Rocha (Brek Shea 91+), Dave van den Bergh -- Jeff Cunningham. Substitutes Not Used: Eric Avila, Kyle Davies, Bruno Guarda, Dario Sala, Blake Wagner
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas saw their brief two-game unbeaten run come to an end, the Kansas City Wizards scoring two late goals to come back for a 3-2 win Saturday evening at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. FCD has 27 points from 25 matches, still in seventh place in the Western Conference, 16 points behind division leaders Houston Dynamo.
LAST MATCH
• The Wizards were back home after keeping their postseason aspirations afloat with two wins in three road tilts over a week's time. FC Dallas were coming off a second six-goal outburst on the season, their 6-3 win against the LA Galaxy ending a three-game winless run.
• The Wizards took the lead after just nine minutes. A Claudio Lopez corner kick found countryman Santiago Hirsig completely unmarked, and he headed home his first MLS goal.
• But FC Dallas snatched the lead back with goals on either side of halftime. In the 44th minute, Dax McCarty stepped forward to intercept a pass out of the back from Jimmy Conrad, and lashed home a low drive from outside the area. Then in the 54th minute, David Ferreira caught Conrad in possession, stole the ball, rounded goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and slipped the ball in front of goal for Jeff Cunningham to tap home for his 13th of the season.
• But the Wizards came back to win the see-saw battle with two goals in four minutes. In the 77th minute, Lopez sent in another corner kick and this time it was met with a full volley by Zoltan. Josh Wolff was standing in the six and redirected it home for his 10th goal.
• Then Conrad atoned for his earlier transgressions. Lopez put in a cross from the left that was nearly headed into his own goal by FCD defender George John. Goalkeeper Dario Sala was able to deflect it away, but only as far as Conrad on the back post, and he fell forward to nod home from close range for the game-winner. • FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman made no changes to the team that defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 6-3 at The Home Depot Center the previous weekend.
• Here's Hyndman's team: (4-1-4-1): Dario Sala - Ugo Ihemelu, George John, Pablo Ricchetti, Jair Benitez - Dax McCarty - Atiba Harris, David Ferreira, Marvin Chavez (Daniel Hernandez 46), Dave van den Bergh (Heath Pearce 62) - Jeff Cunningham. Substitutes Not Used: Eric Avila, Ray Burse, Bruno Guarda, Andre Rocha, Daniel Torres
TEAM NEWS
• When Dario Sala returned to the FCD lineup, the club had recorded just a single clean sheet on the season, in the first 18 games. He saw FCD post shutouts in his first two games back - but since then, FCD has allowed 13 over the club's last five games. It has not allowed fewer than two goals in any of those games.
• "I thought Dario (Sala) played a great game. How can you say a goalie had a great game when a team scores three goals? But it could've been a couple more. I thought he had a great game. Kansas City is a difficult place to play, and there was a lot riding on the game," Hyndman said.
• FC Dallas has scored 23 goals over their last 10 games - all since the transfer of Kenny Cooper to 1860 Munich of the 2.Bundesliga.
• "The thing I'm encouraged about is we lead the league in goals. We score goals. When they slip through your fingers, it has nothing to do with coaching or qualities of players. The players have to invest as much into the defending as they are into the attacking."
• However, FCD has conceded 19 goals over the same period of time. In addition, after two goals coming from corner kicks in Kansas City, nine of the 43 goals allowed by FCD have come from set pieces.
• "It takes 90 minutes to win a game and it takes one second to lose it. The first goal, it was ball watching. We had three guys that were standing by themselves. Their player takes two steps back and scores a header maybe two yards away from goal. It was his first goal of the year and probably the easiest goal," Hyndman said.
• Conrad's winner concerned Hyndman in another way. The first goal of the season for the 2005 MLS Defender of the year, seven of the goals FCD has allowed have either been that player's first goal of the year or first of their MLS career.
• "I hate to keep hearing everybody who scores a goal that it's their first goal of the year," the FCD coach said. "(Jimmy) Conrad -- that was his first goal of the year. Everybody has gotten their first goal of the year against us and that has got to say something."
REAL SALT LAKE
Real Salt Lake saw their three-game undefeated run ended in cruel fashion after coming back from a two-goal deficit as the Houston Dynamo got a late winner for a 3-2 win Saturday evening at Robertson Stadium. Real have 34 points from 26 matches on the year, in sixth place in the Western Conference, two points out of the final wild card spot.
LAST MATCH
• The Dynamo were back home after back-to-back road losses to Colorado and Columbus, while Real Salt Lake were looking to keep their late-season three-game unbeaten streak alive.
• But it was the home side that exploded for an early two-goal advantage. In just the second minute, Brad Davis swung in a free kick from the left side and Brian Ching dove forward in front of an RSL defender to poke the ball home from close range for his eighth goal on the campaign.
• Then in the fifth minute, a Davis corner kick fell right to the feet of Geoff Cameron, who bundled it home from close range for his second of the year. It was the seventh time in league history two goals had been scored in the opening five minutes, the second time this season.
• But RSL began their fightback in the 27th minute. A neat backheel from Pablo Campos sent Kyle Beckerman skipping into the area, and he stroked home a shot from the spot. Yet Real's hopes seemed dashed barely five minutes later when they were left a man down after defender Jamison Olave received a straight red card.
• Yet Real pulled level in the 61st minute, when Yura Movsisyan gathered in a knock-on header, cut inside at the top of the area and rifling a blast inside the left-hand post for his seventh goal on the year.
• The Dynamo, however, had one final response -- and fittingly it came from Davis. Collecting a pass at the left corner of the box, he hammered a rising drive inside the far post past the despairing dive of goalkeeper Nick Rimando for the 81st-minute game-winner, his fifth goal on the campaign.
• Real coach Jason Kreis made three changes to the team that came back for a 1-1 draw with the Chicago Fire at Rio Tinto Stadium. Robbie Russell came back into the back four for Tony Beltran, Kyle Beckerman returned from suspension to replace the injured Clint Mathis, and Rachid El Khalifi came into the team for Robbie Findley.
• Here's Kreis's team (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando - Robbie Russell, Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Chris Wingert - Kyle Beckerman, Will Johnson - Rachid El Khalifi (Javier Morales 46), Andy Williams (Yura Movsisyan 52), Fabian Espindola - Pablo Campos (Robbie Findley 61). Substitutes Not Used: Jean Alexandre, Ned Grabavoy, David Horst, Chris Seitz
• "It was a fascinating game tonight, high intensity affair," said Kreis. "I think the fans got their money's worth, there's no doubt about that. I was extremely proud of my guys to show that kind of fight in those kinds of circumstances tonight. I think there's not a whole lot to feel bad about, I think we have to feel very good about that game and match next week and the next three matches after that."
TEAM NEWS
• RSL had come away from their first two meetings with Houston with draws and nearly made it a third despite going down a man, only for Brad Davis to hit a superb game-winner.
• "We came into a tough place to play against one of the best teams in the league, and you always want to get a point, but I think it shows a lot of character what we did tonight, and it gives us some confidence heading into our next couple games," goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "Obviously, we wanted at least a point and three points would have been great, but we have four games left. That leaves 12 points for us to get."
• Real have two of their next three games away from home, though the loss in Houston wasn't a crusher, leaving them in the same place as they were heading into the weekend - two points out of the final playoff spot.
• "We have to get back to it this week and work hard," said RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman. "If we win next week, we will be right there. A lot of results went our way this week. Nobody pushed too far away. Houston was already up there. We pretty much are in the same position we were in before. We will try to find a win next week."
• Kreis has been concerned about his team's starts all season, and in Houston, his side was down two goals before the game was five minutes old. He said he is looking for his team to come out flying from the start and be the aggressors.
• "If we can play the rest of our games the way we played the last 80 minutes against Houston, I think we'll be fine," defender Robbie Russell said. "We should be getting into the playoffs with the number of points we need."
• In addition, Kreis has been concerned with the red cards his team has seen - the sending off of Jamison Olave was the eighth of the year for RSL, and the third for the Colombian. But he was pleased with his team's response against Houston.
• "We're a man down in that game for 55 or 60 minutes," Kreis said. "That's unbelievable when you look at the stat sheet at the end of the game. I think we were level or close to being level with shots on goal and we created more shots than them. For me, if I'm Houston, I'm not happy with that game."
