FRISCO, Texas – FC Dallas extended their unbeaten streak to six matches and continued their early-season march through the Western Conference with a convincing 2-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps at FC Dallas Stadium on Saturday night. The loss keeps the ‘Caps winless all-time in the state of Texas.
Like clockwork, FCD scored first and shut out their opponents in the first half, both of which they’ve done in every match this season. But in a change of pace from the late game drama that has become the norm for FC Dallas matches, they scored their second-earliest goal of the season in the first half and then later netted their earliest second half goal to effectively put the match on ice.
On their sixth corner kick of the evening, in the 29th minute, Dallas yet again made an opponent pay for allowing them to send their big men into the box. David Ferreira swung in a corner kick from the northwest corner of the field and unfortunately for the Whitecaps, the ball bounced off defender Brad Rusin’s back for an own goal.
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The home side then scored from the run of play in the 50th when Blas Pérez re-directed Kenny Cooper’s blast with a diving header that gave Whitecaps goalkeeper Joe Cannon no chance for a save. The goal was Pérez's third of the season, making him FCD's leading scorer.
Vancouver’s best chance of the match came in the 41st minute when a bad clearance by Dallas 'keeper Raúl Fernández gave midfielder Matt Watson an open shot on goal. FCD defender George John was already hustling back towards his goal, however, and was able to clear the ball before it crossed the line.
FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman is now the club’s all-time leader in points earned by a head coach with 219, surpassing Dave Dir's previous mark of 217.
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The shutout is Dallas’ fifth of the season and Fernández has been in net for four of those, good for second in MLS behind league leader Jimmy Nielsen of Sporting Kansas City (5). But Fernández now leads the league in wins with five.
FC Dallas players, coaches and staff wore black armbands with the words “Peace” and “West” printed on them. “Peace” was a tribute to those who lost their lives or were injured in the Boston Marathon bombing and was inspired by eight-year-old victim Martin Richard. “West” honored the firefighters and citizens who were injured or lost their lives in the devastating fertilizer plant explosion earlier this week in West, Texas.
These same two teams will lace it up again on April 27 at BC Place in Vancouver, though the Whitecaps must travel to Edmonton in midweek for the first leg of their Amway Canadian Championship semifinal match with FC Edmonton.
MLSsoccer.com Men of the Match
Rank |
Player |
What We Saw |
1 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/david-ferreira" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><b>David Ferreira</b></span></a> |
FCD's playmaker was irrepressible as he pulled the strings in a dominant victory. "El Torito" is well and truly back to his best. |
2 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/joe-cannon" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size: 12px;">Joe Cannon</span></strong></a> |
It says much about Vancouver's night that their goalkeeper was clearly their MVP. Kept it close with several superb saves. |
3 |
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/players/george-john" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-size: 12px;">George John</span></strong></a> |
The big center back helped create Dallas' opening goal and ably marshalled yet another clean sheet. |
