In what is becoming a growing list of disappointments, Saturday night’s 1-0 defeat at FC Dallas was just another game to add the tally.
Outplayed for much of the first half, Kansas City (3-7-3) had two penalty appeals waved off in the second half and succumbed to a spot kick by David Ferriera to remain winless on the road in 2010.
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Manager Peter Vermes was quick to make known his opinion on those decisions following the defeat, the Wizards seventh in 11 games.
“I don’t know about the PK against us,” Vermes said of the 58th-minute sequence in which Roger Espinoza was judged to have pulled down David Ferriera. “But I do know that there should have been a PK called in regards to Josh Wolff. It was clear as day.”
Vermes was referring to Wolff going down under pressure in the area only a minute after the start of the second half. But the Wizards manager also pointed to a late free kick opportunity involving recent acquisition Shavar Thomas as another instance of misfortune.
But despite the complaints, even Vermes admitted Kansas City had little fire or verve during the first 45 minutes. Playing at home and full of confidence, FC Dallas drew several key saves out of KC 'keeper Jimmy Nielsen and forced central defenders Jimmy Conrad and Thomas into a collection of last-second challenges.
“I thought we were tentative in the first half,” Vermes said.
Much of that tentativeness was the result of a formation tweak from the team’s normal 4-3-3 to more of a 4-4-2 with Kei Kamara and Wolff playing up front. With Kansas City dropping off defensively, Dallas was able to push its back line forward and held most of the possession and created nearly all the significant offensive moves during the opening 45 minutes.
Complicating matters even more was the fact that the Wizards welcomed Espinoza and Stephane Auvray back into the team following long absences—Espinoza was with Honduras at the World Cup in South Africa; Auvray was recovering from surgery on his right knee—while Thomas made his first start after being aquired from the Union. Captain Davy Arnaud also missed out because of a suspension.
Perhaps, then, it was no surprise that Kansas City had trouble maintaining possession long enough in the first period to venture into the Dallas half, let alone score. But that didn’t last long as the Wizards went back to what they knew best after halftime.
“Our adjustment back to the 4-3-3 put a lot of pressure on them,” Vermes said, “and we started to put them on their heels.”
First came Wolff’s penalty appeal followed by an opportunity dragged wide by Chance Myers, who started in place of Ryan Smith. Then Ferriera’s penalty kick changed the game and turned the odds against the Wizards, who are now 0-7-1 when conceding first.
In the end, the improvements just weren’t enough to tip things in Kansas City’s favor.
Substitute Graham Zusi couldn’t find a way to slip the ball past former teammate Kevin Hartman in the 72 minute. Jack Jewsbury and Myers couldn’t take advantage of their fleeting opportunities and the game was decided by penalty kicks.
One given to the home team, and two not awarded to the visitors that Vermes and the Wizards are left to wonder about.
“When we don’t get rewarded with our actions in the box after a guy gets taken down,” Vermes said, “it gets very difficult.”
