FC Dallas picked up their first win of the 2023 regular season on Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Toyota Stadium when they downed the LA Galaxy 3-1.

Lineups
FC Dallas — Maarten Paes; Ema Twumasi, Nkosi Tafari, José Martínez, Marco Farfan (Geovane Jesus —86’); Edwin Cerrillo (Facundo Quignon —76’), Sebastian Lletget, Paxton Pomykal (Sebastien Ibeagha —80’); Paul Arriola (Tsiki Ntsabeleng —86’), Jesús Ferreira, Alan Velasco (Jáder Obrian —76’).

Substitutes not used — Jimmy Maurer, Sam Junqua, Bernard Kamungo, José Mulato.

Los Angeles Galaxy FC — Jonathan Bond; Chris Mavinga (Eriq Zavaleta —77’), Kelvin Leerdam (Jalen Neal — 66’), Martín Cáceres, Raheem Edwards (Tyler Boyd —71’); Memo Rodriguez (Daniel Aguirre — 65’), Gastón Brugman; Riqui Puig, Efrain Álvarez (Preston Judd —77’), Marco Delgado; Dejan Joveljic.

Substitutes not used — Jonathan Klinsmann, Uri Rosell, Adam Saldaña, Jonathan Pérez.

Scoring Summary:
LAG: Dejan Joveljic (Kelvin Leerdam, Efrain Álvarez) — 35’
DAL: Alan Velasco (Paul Arriola) — 45’+2’
DAL: Jesús Ferreira (Paul Arriola, Alan Velasco) — 58’
DAL: Jesús Ferreira (Paxton Pomykal, Ema Twumasi) — 64’

Misconduct Summary:
LAG: Mark Delgado (caution) — 41’
DAL: Edwin Cerrillo (caution) — 54’
LAG: Kelvin Leerdam (caution) — 58’
DAL: Alan Velasco (caution) — 72’
DAL: Jáder Obrian (caution) — 90+1’
DAL: Geovane Jesus (caution) — 90+7’
LAG: Preston Judd (caution) — 90’+9’

Weather: Clear, 66°F
Attendance: 19,578 (sellout)

FC DALLAS POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH NICO ESTÉVEZ
General thoughts on the match…
“The first game was a great learning experience for us to remind ourselves who we are and what we need to do well on the field in order to get wins. How much consistency you can have throughout the year is key. We showed up today, were consistent and we showed the identity of this team, the mentality is that we want to win. Once we start clicking and finding our mentality, you will see some of the good things you saw today.”

On Paul Arriola…
“It means a lot because it is coming from a play that Paul put a lot of effort. And this is what a leader shows, an example of battling until the last moment, believing he can win that ball and score. These actions lead the team to believe in themselves and do it. It was really important for Paul to show that effort. We have to show everyone we want this game more than whoever we are playing.”

On Nkosi Tafari and Edwin Cerrillo making their first starts of the year…
“We knew it would take them some time to get into the game. When you look at the performance of some of the guys from today to the first game last week, it’s a big difference. And we knew that. We wanted to show that we have a roster and that everyone is important and this team can get the job done. The team had a great mentality, great effort and it helped to close this game out.”

FORWARD PAUL ARRIOLA
Thoughts on what changed from last week…
“I think just us being dynamic helped us out in this match. LA Galaxy is a different rival than what Minnesota was when they came here last weekend. They sat back in a low block and medium block that sometimes we struggle and do not move the ball much.

I give Galaxy a lot of credit because they are a great team, they have amazing players, a great system, a great coach and I know they are always trying to do things right. It just so happens that this weekend we lined up really well against LA Galaxy. Our midfield was dynamic and was able to contain their midfield. Our defense showed up today and kept them in front of them. It was one of those games where we came out knowing what we wanted to do and what result we wanted to get.

DEFENDER MARCO FARFAN
On the importance of the win…
“Very important to get confidence, especially with the win at home in front of the fans. Obviously last week, we didn't show the energy we needed to actually get the result. Even though things weren't the best this game, I think we showed the energy that we needed to come back and win.

On the difference between the first and second half performance…
“I feel like the energy was there. Obviously, we weren't as effective in creating the chances in the first half as we were in the second half. Keeping the energy I think we were still dangerous in the first half, and I think that was the key point in this game.”

On the difference in passing fluidity…
“I go back to energy again, everybody was wanting the ball into space and into feet. We gave each other options and everybody just wanted to win the game. We were out there, we ran with energy, and we tried to dominate the game.”


FORWARD JESÚS FERREIRA
On scoring his first goals of the season and earning the first win…
“It was huge, I think the team wanted to win, we needed to give it to the fans. We had to see what we did wrong in the first game that we weren't able to take three points and apply it to this game. And I think the team was excited and ready for the challenge. Happy that we got the three points at home.”

On the front line all scoring or assisting…
“I think the three up front have chemistry, we're building chemistry and learning from each other every day. For it to come alive in a game and work out, then see the outcome be a goal is always amazing. We're always working to make it stronger and be able to score more goals.”

On the importance of winning before traveling away from home…
“Yeah, we know how important away games are and how difficult they are. The team is gonna be preparing ourselves for a tough game against Vancouver. We'll go out there with the mentality that we can get out, we can get out with three points.”