FRISCO, Texas - David Ferreira loves playing the hero for FC Dallas. For the second straight week, the Colombian midfielder converted a game-winning penalty kick, this time coming in the 58th minute of a 1-0 win over Kansas City at Pizza Hut Park.
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It was just one week ago that Ferreira nailed another PK, this one in the 61st minute to propel his club to a 2-1 win over Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center. However, on Saturday, he did his own dirty work, forcing Kansas City’s Roger Espinoza to take him down inside the box to draw the call from referee Ramon Hernandez.
Last week, it was teammate Marvin Chavez who drew the foul inside the Chivas USA area that sent Ferreira to the spot.
“When Jair (Benitez) crossed the ball, I knew the defender was coming behind me,” Ferreira said. “I took a touch and wasn’t expecting that shove from him. It was a big responsibility for me (to take the PK) in the first and second game. That’s six points right there that could have easily been two. I will take that responsibility any day.”
FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman nearly ran out of superlatives when asked to describe how much “El Torito” means to FCD.
“As we all saw last year, he’s a very, very good player,” Hyndman said. “He is a tireless worker. There at the end of the game, he and Atiba (Harris) killed four minutes off the clock in the corner. He’s just a smart player. I think right now, this is more his team than anybody else’s.”
From the opening whistle, FCD controlled the run of play. Hyndman’s club had seven shots in the opening 45 minutes, including five on frame compared to just two attempts by the Wizards in the first half, none of which were on goal.
Despite the overwhelming edge in shots, the match remained scoreless until Ferreira’s third goal of the year.
“I thought it was the right result. I thought we created many more scoring chances,” Hyndman said. “It was a difficult game for both teams. I didn’t think the field was in great shape with the rain. I thought (Kevin) Hartman made a couple of brilliant saves and (Jimmy) Nielsen made some saves as well.”
FCD captain Daniel Hernandez agrees tonight’s game was one his club had to win.
“We had to win this one. I think we’ve kind of been on a roll,” Hernandez said. “We have three wins in a row and have been playing good soccer. I think we dominated them pretty much 85 percent of the game. I thought the work rate was excellent from everybody. Everybody worked hard. It was a very important three points for us.”
For the second straight week, Hyndman started Atiba Harris up top and Marvin Chavez played right midfield. As was the case in last weekend’s win, the combination again delivered solid results on the offensive side of things.
“I thought he (Harris) did very well. He held the ball well,” Hyndman said. “He’s a fighter, he flicks the ball on. I don’t think we’re reading off his flicks right now but he’s flicking a lot of balls on. I thought Atiba worked awfully hard, took a lot of fouls off kicks and was a good player for us.”
FCD goes for their fourth straight win next Sunday when they visit Seattle. The sides met earlier in the season on April 22 in Frisco and played to a 2-2 draw.
