HARRISON, N.J. – FC Dallas entered Friday's match against the New York Red Bulls in this season's only showdown between the top two teams during the 2015 regular season looking to solidify their early credentials for the 2016 Supporters' Shield.
Instead, they continued an early-season trend of struggling on the road, falling flat in a 4-0 hammering by the Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena.
“Terrible, terrible result,” midfielder Victor Ulloa said after the game. “We have to find answers. We have to find a way to get results away from home. It’s not the time panic, not yet. This is a time that we have to be united as a group and not let anything bring us down.”
The loss was the latest lopsided result for Dallas on the road this season. All three of their losses this year, to Houston, Vancouver and now New York, have been games in which they have let in at least three goals and failed to score themselves.
“The intention wasn’t just to park the bus in the back,” FC Dallas coach Oscar Pareja said. “The intention was to come and look for them, but I’m going to tell you: New York was much, much better than us in every area. In fact, New York dominated from the first minute to the last one. We didn’t have answers for New York. They played very well tonight.”
The Red Bulls could have opened the scoring earlier, but good chances in the first thirty minutes were squandered.
“Especially in the first half, they were on us the whole time, and we just have to find answers,” Ulloa said.
Whether that means shuffling the defense or making a change in goal isn’t clear. Pareja cited the peaks and valleys that young players have when discussing goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez, who had been inserted into the lineup after international duty.
FC Dallas have now followed a six-game unbeaten run with two consecutive losses in which they were outscored a combined 7-0.
“Very unbalanced,” Pareja said of his team. “I’m not just responsible, I’m worried about it.”
