FC Dallas will have to wait another week to clinch a MLS Cup Playoff spot after falling 2-1 to the LA Galaxy on Saturday night.
The loss ended FC Dallas’ unbeaten run at eight games.
The game quickly spiraled away from FC Dallas as Logan Farrington picked up a red card in the 16th minute. Farrington got tangled up with Mauricio Cuevas, after Cuevas tackled Farrington. The foul caused a confrontation between the two clubs in front of the Dallas bench and the center official immediately went to a red card for Farrington.
With the man advantage, the Galaxy got in the drivers seat with a goal four minutes before halftime from Elijah Wynder. After a poor clearance by Osaze Urhoghide, Wynder laid the ball off near midfield for Gabriel Pec, who then quickly played a through ball back to Wynder. The Galaxy midfielder took a touch before hitting a shot that Michael Collodi tired to get a glove on but ended up in the back of the net.
Dallas responded shortly after halftime with a goal from Anderson Julio in the 52nd minute. Petar Musa played a long ball up the field to Shaq Moore who headed the ball on to Sam Sarver along the right wing. Sarver played a nice ball into the penalty box where Julio was wide open and was able to easily score his sixth goal of the season.
The Galaxy would continue to apply pressure as they looked for the game-winner and then in the 87th minute, they found it with Pec. A long ball was played into the penalty area by Cuevas. After Dallas failed to clear it Pec got the ball in the middle of the area and took a few dribbles before hitting a shot at the far post past Collodi.
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Instant Reaction: This one is really tough to swallow. The red card to Farrington wasn’t a fair call at all, I’m not sure how you go straight red like that. The club told me that the ref said afterwards that Farrington kicked Cuevas in the groin after the play. I’m still not sure where he saw that. The ref made himself the story of the game in a bad way.
The hard reality from this one isn’t just the loss, but with the cards picked up tonight, FC Dallas will be without Musa, Ramiro and Farrington in Vancouver next week. Hopefully Julio and Sarver can work their magic on the road.
Random Stat for the night: The loss was only the fourth road loss of the season.
About the Subs: At halftime, Eric Quill went to his bench to bring on Anderson Julio and Sam Sarver for Patrickson Delgado and Kaick. Late in the game, in the 88th minute, Pedrinho subbed on for Ramiro. In stoppage time, two more subs came in as Sebastien Ibeagha and Alvaro Augusto came on for Shaq Moore and Chris Cappis.
Man of the Match: Let’s go with Julio, he got the lone Dallas goal.
Where does this fit into the season: The loss doesn’t eliminate FC Dallas from contention. With Real Salt Lake’s loss to Seattle, the final two playoff spots in the West are still up for grabs. FC Dallas does control their destiny a bit as they have a two point gap over 10th place Colorado and a three point gap over 11th place San Jose.
What’s next for FC Dallas: Decision Day is coming up next week as FC Dallas wraps up the 2025 regular season against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
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