FRISCO, Texas – It is always easy to point fingers and place blame when you lose a game at home. It’s even easier to place blame when your club drops all three points while down two men.
Still, FC Dallas manager Schellas Hyndman wasn’t offering up any excuses after his club lost 2-0 to the Colorado Rapids Sunday night, even if the circumstances offered ready made explanations.
WATCH: Full match highlights
Dallas went down two-men in the first half when Daniel Hernandez was shown a second yellow card in the 34tg minute and Blas Pérez saw straight red two minutes later thanks to a reckless challenge on Colorado defender Drew Moor.
Opta Chalkboard: Colorado dominates play with two-man advantage
“I think it is real easy for me to bicker and complain about the obvious,” Hyndman said after the loss. “The first play of the game, Jackson gets taken down by [Tyrone] Marshall on the first breakaway, and that was the tone and tempo of the game.”
And even if they couldn’t hand on for a result, the FC Dallas manager said he took pride in the way his club handled being down two men for 55 minutes.
“I was really proud about how much they gave,” said Hyndman. “I mean look at Jair [Benítez] attacking, defending, attacking, defending and until you really play the game you don’t realize how much space you have to cover.”
Hyndman made two switches at halftime, bringing in newly signed James Marcelin and Hernán Pertúz with the hope disrupting and frustrating a Rapids side with a distinct numerical advantage.
“We tried to go two banks of four to try to frustrate them and maybe get a free kick, a breakaway or give the referee a chance to pull a card out,” Hyndman said.
Even with more steel in the mix, Dallas couldn’t keep Colorado off the board, as Jaime Castrillón and Martín Rivero scored the game’s only goals in the 61st and 74th minutes, respectively.
Dallas must now focus on a busy week ahead that includes two more games, the first of which will be without at least Hernandez and Pérez.
“We won’t be putting our best team on the field because of the red cards and the injuries,” Hyndman said, “but I know I have a lot of guys in the locker room looking for an opportunity, and so they’ll be given that opportunity.”
