FC Dallas came into the 2006 season with the intention of making their new Pizza Hut Park home a fortress. In their first full season in their Frisco base, they might be starting to do just that, as they came back from a deficit for the second straight week to beat Real Salt Lake 2-1 on Saturday night.
Chris Klein put a scare into the home team with his picture perfect free-kick goal in the 36th minute, but the Hoops fought back and took the win behind goals from Kenny Cooper in the 43rd minute and Mark Wilson in the 57th minute.
"Overall, I was pleased," said Hoops boss Colin Clarke. "[I'm] just disappointed we didn't put it away in the second half when we had the opportunity to, and then we were a little bit on edge in the last few minutes. We did a lot of good stuff -- good passing and good movement."
For Cooper, scoring two goals in his first two games with the team makes him the first FC Dallas player to accomplish such a feat.
"It's exciting, you know. I'm so glad to be here," Cooper said. "I've had a real good preseason and I wanted to start off right and I think we have and we just want to carry that forward."
With a mix of luck and good hustle, Wilson got a deflection on Carey Talley's clearance attempt that gave the midfielder his first goal since donning the Hoops in late 2005. Wilson was a last-minute replacement in the starting lineup when Ronnie O'Brien was excused for personal reasons.
"I thought Mark Wilson did very well tonight," said Clarke. "He worked very hard in midfield and it's nice to get the first one -- he didn't know much about it -- but he was in a great spot in there closing him down. I'm very, very pleased for him."
Roberto Mina and Carlos Ruiz both put forth solid efforts, and while neither scored goals, they created multiple chances for their teammates.
Ruiz set up the first goal with his ambitious heel flick that rolled right into the path of Cooper, putting him in great position to finish from 10 yards out.
"I work to score goals -- you know, I haven't scored a goal yet this season," said Ruiz. "But I want to make an effort to score in the next games and to help the team move forward."
Mina played a long cross into Ruiz that led to the game-winning goal. However, his efforts over the course of the match aren't typically noticed in the boxscore as he hassled defenders and brought his physical style to the forefront to frustrate his markers.
"I'm feeling very well," said Mina. "A lot better than last year. This year I was able to go through the process of preseason with the team and its helped me a lot. I feel very good right now."
One alarming trend in the first two games for FC Dallas is the tendency to foul the opposition in the defensive third, giving up risky free kick opportunities.
"It's dangerous to give up fouls in that area of the field," said Clarke. "[RSL forward Jeff] Cunningham going through toward goal causes problems -- I wish it had been five or 10 yards further away from the goal. You know we lived dangerously a couple times there and it was a hell of a strike from Klein."
Scott Joiner is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
