FC Dallas: The most Texas team in U.S. sports - This Week in MLS

• FC Dallas: The most Texas team in U.S. sports
• Newcomers Pozuelo, Nani providing dominant impact
• Red Bulls look to gain ground as LA’s Ibrahimović makes first Big Apple trip
• Longest tenured Whitecap Teibert nearly became hockey player
• Week 10 Notes

Top Things to Know about MLS This Week
1.
Zlatan Ibrahimović takes New York:
With 30 goals in his first 34 games, the LA Galaxy’s goalscoring titan makes his first MLS trip to the Big Apple.
2.
LAFC’s Carlos Vela nudges goal-scoring record:
His 11 goals in 10 games ties the MLS record for most goals over that span to start a season.
3.
Texas Derby is the most Texas ever:
The most Texas natives on Texas-based professional sports teams will meet when nine FC Dallas players face three from the Houston Dynamo.
4.
Best April in 21 years:
The LA Galaxy’s six-game unbeaten streak is their best performance in April since 1998.
5.
First minute, first goals:
For the second time this season, a goal was scored in the first minute: Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC, April 28), Carlos Gruezo (FC Dallas, March 30).
6.
Audi 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs Watch:
Last year Atlanta United qualified for the postseason with eight weeks left in the regular season. Could LAFC, with a 7-1-2 record, do it even sooner?
FC Dallas: The most Texas team in U.S. sports
Thanks to the tremendous success of its academy producing local talent, FC Dallas is the most Texas team in all men’s professional sports in the United States. The nine FC Dallas first team players raised in Texas are more than any other team in the United States. Texas pride will be on the line this weekend when FC Dallas visits rival Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday, May 4 (4 p.m. / Univision, Twitter).
All nine Texans on the FC Dallas roster hail from the club’s academy and were signed to Homegrown Player contracts to begin their careers, including five who are regular starters.
Dallas has notably relied on its young academy products this season sitting fourth in the Western Conference thanks in large part to 18-year-old forward
Jesus Ferreira
(three goals, two assists) and 19-year-old midfielder
Paxton Pomykal
(two goals, one assist). Other Texas-raised academy products regularly in the starting lineup for FC Dallas this season include 23-year-old goalkeeper
Jesse Gonzalez
, 20-year-old defender
Reggie Cannon
and 18-year-old midfielder
Edwin Cerrillo
.
The Dynamo boasts their own academy-produced Texan in 23-year-old midfielder Memo Rodriguez who is tied for the team lead with four goals scored this season.
Most Texans among men’s professional sports teams in Texas

Elias Sports Bureau
Newcomers Pozuelo, Nani providing dominant impact
They might be brand new to MLS, but Toronto FC’s
Alejandro Pozuelo
and Orlando City SC’s
Nani
are holding it down for their respective clubs. Since arriving for the 2019 season, both Orlando and Toronto can each credit almost 70 percent of their goalscoring production to these respective newcomers, who will face off for the first time this Saturday at Orlando City Stadium (4 p.m. ET / TSN, CTV, ESPN+).
Since first stepping on the field for their respective clubs, the two have contributed to the exact same number of goals with Nani’s five goals and four assists comparing to Pozuelo’s five assists and four goals, proving each player’s dominating hand in nine total finishes each. Across all matches featuring Pozuelo and Nani appearances, each club has also tallied an identical 13 total goals.
Heading into the weekend, Toronto will be riding Pozuelo’s first-half production, which has featured his two goals scored before the 31st minute and his three assists dished out before the 32nd minute. But getting out to a strong start will only be half the battle since Nani’s late-breaking heroics include three of his five MLS finishes coming after the 75th minute.
Will this one be decided early, or will it come down to the wire?
Red Bulls look to gain ground as LA’s Ibrahimović makes first Big Apple trip
The 2018 Supporters’ Shield-winning New York Red Bulls are attempting to make up for a sluggish start to the 2019 season. They could give themselves a big boost when they host
Zlatan Ibrahimović
and the LA Galaxy this Saturday at Red Bull Arena (2 p.m. ET / ESPN, ESPN Deportes, TSN).
This marks Ibrahimović’s first trip to the Big Apple. The Galaxy signed him nearly two weeks after LA’s game at New York City FC on March 11, 2018, and the Galaxy hosted the Red Bulls in their lone match last year – a 3-2 defeat at Dignity Health Sports Park on April 28, 2018.
Red Bulls striker
Bradley Wright-Phillips
, the only player in MLS history to score 15 or more goals in five straight seasons, missed their most recent game (muscle strain), but the club picked up the slack as
Connor Lade
and the Red Bulls defeated FC Cincinnati for their second home win. The Red Bulls are four points behind the playoff line in the Eastern Conference, and if Wright-Phillips returns this weekend, he enters one goal away from tying for seventh place on the MLS all-time goalscoring list (behind Jason Kreis, 108 career goals).
Wright-Phillips’ counterpart, Ibrahimović, has scored 30 goals in his first 34 games with LA, including eight thus far in 2019. The Galaxy are averaging 2.44 points per game (22 points in nine games), which is two months ahead of last season’s pace when it took until late June to reach 22 points.
Longest tenured Whitecap Teibert nearly became hockey player
Russell Teibert
, the longest tenured Vancouver Whitecaps FC player on the roster, nearly pursued hockey over soccer. Teibert split his time between the two sports growing up in Niagara Falls, Ontario but made a commitment to soccer when the Whitecaps offered him a spot in their heralded academy when the 15-year-old Teibert impressed during a tryout. Vancouver hosted Teibert through its residency program, helping the teen move across the country without his family to pursue his dreams of playing professional soccer.
Now a starting midfielder for Vancouver, Teibert has been on the first team roster since signing a Homegrown Player contract in 2011. The 26-year-old has also emerged as a regular for the Canada National Team and figures prominently in future plans for both club and country. Teibert and Whitecaps FC will next face the Colorado Rapids on Friday, May 3 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (9 p.m. ET / TSN, ESPN+).
MLS Regular Season: Week 10 Notes
Wednesday, May 1
Philadelphia Union vs. FC Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m. ET

• The Union reached a second successive result, gaining a 1-1 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place on Saturday afternoon. Kacper Przybylko scored his first MLS goal, while Jamiro Monteiro recorded his first MLS assist after scoring his first league goal the week previous.
  
• FC Cincinnati suffered a third consecutive defeat – all by shutout – their winless streak now at five games following a 1-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena on Saturday evening. FCC saw their attacking goalless streak extended to 341 minutes, longest in MLS this season.
  
• The teams are meeting for the second time this season. Marco Fabian and David Accam netted goals nine minutes apart early in the second half as the Union claimed a 2-0 win on March 30 at Nippert Stadium.
  

Friday, May 3
Colorado Rapids vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 9 p.m. ET (TSN)

• The Rapids continued their winless start to the season, falling 1-0 to Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday evening. At 0-7-2 to start the year, the Rapids have now tied for the second-longest winless start to a season in MLS history.
  
• Whitecaps FC returned home and gained a result, playing to a 1-1 draw with the Philadelphia Union at BC Place on Saturday afternoon. Doneil Henry scored his second goal of the season, a single-season career-high in his seventh MLS campaign.
  
• The teams met twice a season ago, and the visiting team won each. Whitecaps FC claimed a 2-1 win on June 1 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, then the Rapids won by the game’s lone goal a month later on July 1 at BC Place.
  
• Whitecaps FC have come away with points on each of their three trips to Commerce City, Colo., winning twice (in both 2017 and 2018) – just their second and third wins ever at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The only other Whitecaps FC win in Commerce City came in 2012.
  
• The Rapids win last year was their first on their past six trips to Vancouver, their last win there coming on April 5, 2014.
  

Saturday, May 4
New York Red Bulls vs. LA Galaxy, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN, ESPN Deportes, TSN)

• The Red Bulls put an end to a five-game winless skid, scoring the game’s only goal in defeating FC Cincinnati at Red Bull Arena on Saturday evening. Connor Lade scored the lone goal, his second career tally in eight MLS seasons.
  
• The Galaxy extended their overall undefeated streak to seven games, winning a sixth consecutive home match in defeating Real Salt Lake 2-1 at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday evening. Zlatan Ibrahimović netted the game-winner, his eighth goal of the season.
  
• The Red Bulls won the lone meeting between the teams a season ago, a 3-2 win on April 28 in Carson.
  
• The visiting team has won each of the last two meetings in the series, after the teams played to draws in each of the two meetings prior to that. The Galaxy have won once in their last five home meetings in the series, a 4-0 victory on Sept. 28, 2014, while the last Red Bulls home win, in 2013, was the final victory in a three-game winning streak at Red Bull Arena for New York.
  

Houston Dynamo vs. FC Dallas, 4 p.m. ET (Univision, Twitter)

• The Dynamo returned home and returned to their winning ways, defeating Columbus Crew SC 2-0 at BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday evening. Mauro Manotas and Tomás Martínez netted goals for the Dynamo, who won their fourth home game in a row, one game shy of the club record.
  
• FC Dallas saw their two-game winning run come to an end but still extended their undefeated run, reaching a scoreless draw with the San Jose Earthquakes at Toyota Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
  
• The teams met three times a season ago, with just one ending with a victory – FC Dallas taking a 4-2 win in the final meeting, Sept. 1 at Toyota Stadium. The teams reached a pair of 1-1 draws, both at BBVA Compass Stadium, first on July 21, then on Aug. 23.
  
• The Dynamo have won just once in the series over the past six seasons. Since the start of 2013, FC Dallas are 7-1-6 in league play against Houston, and have won the three meetings between the teams in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
  
• The Dynamo haven’t won in Frisco since 2011, but the FCD win in the final meeting last year was their first at home in the series since 2015. Dallas has won five of the 10 matches (with three draws) between the teams over all competitions at BBVA Compass Stadium.
  
• The clubs play for “El Capitán,” the 19th-century Mountain Howitzer cannon to be awarded to the winner of the season series by supporters’ groups for both clubs.
  

Orlando City SC vs. Toronto FC, 4 p.m. ET (TSN, CTV)

• Orlando City SC reached a second result in a row, playing to a 1-1 draw with New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Nani scored for a fourth consecutive game, with five goals over that time; he has played a part in seven of OCSC’s last eight goals (five goals, two assists).
  
• Toronto FC lost for the first time at home this season, falling 2-1 to the Portland Timbers at BMO Field on Saturday afternoon. Jonathan Osorio scored his second goal of the season.
  
• The teams split their two meetings a season ago, each winning by a 2-1 scoreline on their home ground, TFC winning at BMO Field on May 18, and OCSC winning at Orlando City Stadium on July 14.
  
• Orlando City’s win in the second meeting ended a three-game winning streak and five-game undefeated streak alive in the series for TFC. Toronto FC have won seven of the 10 meetings all-time, with one draw.
  
• Both of OCSC’s wins have come on their home ground. TFC have won four of the five meetings all-time at BMO Field, without defeat; Orlando City’s lone result in Toronto came in a goalless draw on Sept. 28, 2016.
  

Montreal Impact vs. New York City FC, 5 p.m. ET (TVA Sports)

• The Impact have won back-to-back games for the first time this season, winning for the second time in two home matches this season in a 1-0 defeat of the Chicago Fire at Stade Saputo on Sunday afternoon. Omar Browne scored the game’s only goal in his MLS debut.
  
• NYCFC extended their undefeated streak to five games with a third draw in that time, playing to a 1-1 result with Orlando City SC at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Héber netted his second MLS goal; he has two goals and two assists over the last three games.
  
• The teams are meeting for the second time this season. They played to a scoreless draw April 6 at Yankee Stadium. NYCFC has a four-year and seven-game undefeated streak alive in the series, with three wins and four draws over that time.
  
• The teams played to a 1-1 draw last year in the lone meeting at Stade Saputo, on Sept. 22. NYCFC had won the first three meetings all-time in Montréal; the Impact have never won at home in the series.
  
• NYCFC won 3-0 last July 11 at Yankee Stadium, their first win in the Bronx vs. the Impact since the first meeting ever between the teams in 2015. They had reached draws there the previous two matchups, after the Impact’s lone win in the series came on Aug. 1, 2015.
  

Philadelphia Union vs. New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m. ET

• The Revolution gained a second road point on the season in a remarkable match, playing to a 4-4 draw with Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday evening. Juan Caicedo netted a pair of goals, his first two in MLS, while Juan Agudelo had a goal and an assist.
  
• The teams met three times a season ago, and the Union won all three. Two of the victories came at Talen Energy Stadium, a 2-0 win in the season opener for both clubs on March 3, then a 1-0 win on Aug. 25. The Union also took a 3-2 win at Gillette Stadium on Aug. 11, as defender Jack Elliott scored a pair of goals.
  
• The Union have won six of the past seven meetings between the clubs, outscoring New England 16-2 in those victories. The only Revolution win in the series since 2015 came on July 29, 2017, at Gillette Stadium, a 3-0 victory. The Revolution’s last win in Chester, Pa., came in 2015, when they won both meetings there.
  

D.C. United vs. Columbus Crew SC, 8 p.m. ET

• D.C. United suffered a second loss in three matches, falling 1-0 to Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field on Saturday afternoon.
  
• Crew SC suffered a fourth consecutive defeat, falling 2-0 to the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday evening. The four-game losing skid is the club’s longest since 2005.
  
• The teams are meeting for the second time this season, inside of a two-week span. Wayne Rooney scored the game’s lone goal directly from a free kick, as D.C. United took the victory on April 24 at Mapfre Stadium.
  
• This season’s first meeting victory was the first for D.C. United in Columbus since the 2007 season. Crew SC had won eight of the 11 meetings in between on their home ground, with three draws.
  
• This is the first meeting between the clubs at Audi Field. Crew SC concluded their history at RFK Stadium having won on three of their final seven trips to East Capitol Street (against two United victories), dating back to the 2013 season.
  

Minnesota United FC vs. Seattle Sounders FC, 8 p.m. ET

• MNUFC won their first match in their new Allianz Field home, defeating D.C. United 1-0 on Saturday afternoon. Ángelo Rodríguez scored the game’s lone goal, his fourth goal of the season, his third in the last four games.
  
• Sounders FC netted a second consecutive draw, playing to a 1-1 draw with the Los Angeles Football Club at CenturyLink Field on Sunday afternoon. Jordan Morris scored for Sounders FC after 45 seconds, the second-fastest from the start of a game in the club’s MLS history.
  
• Sounders FC have won all four meetings between the teams all-time, holding an 11-3 advantage in goals. Seattle won the two matchups a year ago, a 3-1 win on April 22 at CenturyLink Field, then a 2-1 win on Aug. 4 at TCF Bank Stadium.
  
• The teams met twice in Minnesota United FC’s inaugural MLS campaign in 2017, and Sounders FC won both. Seattle took a 4-0 win when the teams first met, Aug. 5 at TCF Bank Stadium, then claimed a 2-1 victory just 15 days later at CenturyLink Field.
  

Real Salt Lake vs. Portland Timbers, 9 p.m. ET

• Real Salt Lake saw their two-game winning streak come to an end, falling 2-1 to the LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday evening. Donny Toia scored the RSL goal, his first in MLS since June 20, 2015, a span of 76 appearances.
  
• The Timbers won for a second consecutive match on the heels of a five-game losing streak, defeating Toronto FC 2-1 at BMO Field on Saturday afternoon. Jeremy Ebobisse scored for a second successive week, while Diego Valeri recorded assists on both goals, now tied for the MLS lead with six assists.
  
• The teams met twice a season ago and the Timbers won both, the two matches coming over a three-week span at the end of the season. The Timbers cruised to a 4-1 win on Oct. 6 at Rio Tinto Stadium, then took a 3-0 win Oct. 21 at Providence Park.
  
• Real Salt Lake won both meetings in 2017, one at each ground, which put an end to an eight-game Timbers undefeated streak in the all-time league series. The last previous RSL win had come on April 19, 2014; Portland won four of the eight games in between, with four draws.
  

San Jose Earthquakes vs. FC Cincinnati, 10 p.m. ET

• The Quakes extended their undefeated streak to three games with a second consecutive draw, reaching a goalless draw with FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium on Saturday evening.
  
• Quakes goalkeeper Daniel Vega was credited with four saves in recording the club’s first away shutout since August 2017; San Jose did see their road winless streak extended to nine games, dating back to last August.
  
• The teams are meeting for the first time in their histories.
  

Los Angeles Football Club vs. Chicago Fire, 10:30 p.m. ET

• LAFC took a ninth result from 10 matches this season, playing to a 1-1 draw with Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field on Sunday afternoon.
  
• Carlos Vela scored his league-leading 11th goal of the season, equaling the most goals in the opening 10 matches of a season in MLS history.
  
• The Fire suffered a second consecutive loss by the game’s lone goal, falling to the Montréal Impact at Stade Saputo on Sunday afternoon.
  
• The teams met once a year ago in LAFC’s inaugural season, the Fire claiming a 3-1 win on Sept. 29 in Bridgeview, Ill.
  

Sunday, May 5
Sporting Kansas City vs. Atlanta United, 9 p.m. ET (FS1, FOX Deportes)

• Sporting saw their winless run extended to four games despite coming back for a third draw in that time, reaching a wild 4-4 draw with the New England Revolution at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday evening.
  
• Krisztian Németh scored a pair of goals, now sitting in a tie for third place in MLS with six goals this season, while Felipe Gutiérrez also hit for a brace, now with three goals in his last two games.
  
• Atlanta United won for the first time at Mercedes-Benz Stadium this season, their second win in the last three games, defeating the Colorado Rapids 1-0 on Saturday afternoon. Julian Gressel scored the game’s lone goal.
  
• Sporting have yet to lose to Atlanta United in the series, the clubs having met twice. Last year, Sporting took a 2-0 win on May 9 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium; the teams reached a 1-1 draw at Children’s Mercy Park in ATLUTD’s inaugural season in 2017.