Lineups
FC Dallas — Maarten Paes; Marco Farfan, Nkosi Tafari, Ema Twumasi, Sebastien Ibeagha, Sam Junqua; Facundo Quignón (Paxton Pomykal – 65’), Asier Illarramendi; Paul Arriola (Liam Fraser – 80’), Jesús Ferreira (Jesús Jiménez – 90’+3’), Alan Velasco (Jáder Obrian – 80’).
Substitutes not used — Jimmy Maurer, José Martínez, Dante Sealy, Amet Korça, Bernard Kamungo.
Houston Dynamo FC — Steve Clark; Teenage Hadebe, Micael, Erik Sviatchenko (Ethan Bartlow – 81’), Franco Escobar; Brad Smith (Nelson Quiñónes – 58’), Héctor Herrera, Artur; Amine Bassi, Corey Baird (Aliyu Ibrahim –87’), Franco Escobar (Adalberto Carrasquilla – 58’).
Substitutes not used — Andrew Tarbell, Daniel Steres, Sebastian Kowalczyk, Thorleifur Úlfarsson, Sebastian Kowalczyk, Brooklyn Raines.
Scoring Summary: None
Misconduct Summary:
HOU: Teenage Hadebe (caution) – 8’
HOU: Franco Escobar (caution) – 29’
DAL: Nkosi Tafari (caution) – 41’
HOU: Adalberto Carrasquilla (caution) – 70’
HOU: Hector Herrera (caution) – 84’
Weather: Sunny, 89ºF
Attendance: 18,175
Stats
FC DALLAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Nico Estévez
On the team’s performance…
“We had some difficulties building pressure from the beginning. We adjusted well at half time, we put Alan (Velasco) and Jesús (Ferreira) closer to each other and dropped Paul (Arriola) so we could keep releasing Sam Junqua in the weak side pocket. With those adjustments, I felt like we were able to press better. In the first half we had long sequences of possession, from switching the field and creating good tempo. We were able to create chances on them with crosses and chances like the couple times Ema got in the box and the Marco chance as well. Some of those transitions, we rushed the last pass. In the second half we were stable defensively. We had good moments in transition that would have led to more, but we could not get the final pass on points like I mentioned earlier. We rushed, the passing was not good, and I don’t think we were clean overall. Near the end of the game, Paxton (Pomykal) had a chance to put the game away. Overall I feel like it’s a fair tie.”
On going unbeaten throughout September…
“In those draws, there were a lot of games where we deserved to win. If you look at our last road match in Philadelphia, we had a goal that was disallowed, and we had a lot of chances. In the home game against Atlanta, we had multiple chances which we could have capitalized in. Overall, we deserve a better outcome in some of these games. In other, we play very good teams away from home, but the team competes, and we were great on the defensive side. We just need to score and capitalize those chances that we are creating.”
On facing Colorado at home midweek…
“The goal for this team is to play in the playoffs. It’s our goal that we set from the beginning of the season. Having strong mentalities like how we showed in the last two road games can help us heading into the final stretch. It also increases the distance from team’s who drop points in their games. We have two final home games with our fans, we need to speed it up and get six points from the two remaining matches. We want to get ourselves in the clinched positions for the playoffs.”
Defender Sam Junqua
On the team’s game plan…
“There were a few things we had to adjust along the way but in general it was to keep things narrow and not let them combine through the middle, which they do well. I think we were good with that. We would’ve liked to have attacked a little ,ore aggressively and we made some changes to do that. Overall, it’s a good result and we had chances to score as well.”
On the importance of the upcoming home matches…
“The idea was the better we do against Philly and Houston in away games, it takes the pressure off the last three games. Getting a point in each of those weren’t bad results and they took a little pressure off the last few games. But in the end, the home games are going to be key for us.”
Midfielder Paul Arriola
On the formation…
“We thought we played really well in Philadelphia using a back five formation. We kind of expected them to come out in a back five formation which is the way they build in the attack for them is with three in the back. This is the FC Dallas that we know right? Transition and hold them when we need to, press them when we need to. You know we had a few chances that I think were pretty clear for us. You know obviously we'd love to have the ball a little bit more, but in the end it was always going to be this type of game.”
On obtaining a point in Houston…
“Houston has a lot of quality players. We definitely respect that. We will do our best to continue to build on tonight. It's a point and it's vital. There are a few games left, so we'll take the point and get ready for Wednesday.”
On the final two home matches of the regular season…
“We have to win at home on Wednesday and Saturday. For us, they're going to be must win games. It's very clear for us that if we want to be in the playoffs, we're going to have to beat Colorado and San Jose.”
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