FC Dallas picked up their second shutout of the season, drawing Minnesota United 0-0.
Lineups
FC Dallas — Maarten Paes; Ema Twumasi (Geovane Jesus – 68’), Sebastien Ibeagha, José Martínez, Sam Junqua (Marco Farfan – 68’); Edwin Cerrillo (Facundo Quignon – 78’), Paxton Pomykal, Sebastian Lletget; Jáder Obrian (Jesús Jiménez – 78’), Jesús Ferreira, Paul Arriola.
Substitutes not used — Jimmy Maurer, Amet Korça, Nolan Norris, Tsiki Ntsabeleng, Bernard Kamungo.
Minnesota United FC — Dayne St. Clair; Kemar Lawrence, Miguel Tapias, Michael Boxall, DJ Taylor; Hassani Dotson (Franco Fragapane – 64’), Wil Trapp; Bongokuhle Hlongwane, Sang Bin Jeong (Mender García – 70’), Robin Lod; Luis Amarilla.
Substitutes not used — Clint Irwin, Eric Dick, Zarek Valentin, Brent Kallman, Joseph Rosales, Cameron Dunbar.
Scoring Summary:
None
Misconduct Summary:
MIN: Sang Bin Jeong (caution) – 31’
FCD: José Martínez (caution) – 45’+1’
MIN: Franco Fragapane (caution) – 86’
Weather: Cloudy, 46°F
Attendance: 18,410
FC DALLAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Nico Estévez
Reaction to the result and performance…
“It’s really important coming off a loss and having two games away in a row like we had and not conceding to get a point and something positive. It’s difficult in this league to play away. The two halves were pretty different. In the first half we had good control of buildup, but we didn’t create many chances and we lacked when we were playing deeper. The crosses that we had, some of them should’ve been on the ground and we could’ve executed better. In the second half, the game opened a little bit with more fatigue and the opponent opened more and we found spaces to counterattack. Defensively, we had some moments where we were very compact and solid and in other moments it was difficult to stop the opponent’s attack and it’s a good learning moment for us in terms of preventing some of the chances Minnesota created today. In the first half, I think it was more from our mistakes and giving up the ball in the wrong spaces. In the second half it was more in transition moments which we prevented well.”
On creating chances in the final third…
“In the second half we won the ball in areas with numbers forward and allowed us to be more dangerous. In the first half, we had a more difficult time winning the ball in their half and we were forced in the second half by adjusting some of our pressure. It helped us to force them to make mistakes and win the ball. Sometimes the best action in the first half came from buildup but I think we rushed too much when we arrived in the final third. We might have to be a little bit more patient to draw them out more and move them more to attack the penalty box.”
On Geovane Jesus’ adaptation to MLS…
“Geovane is adapting very well. He’s doing a good job on different sides, on the sports side but also on the personal side. He’s learning English and getting more comfortable with the language, he has his family here and they’re enjoying Dallas. On the field he’s understanding very quickly what we’re looking for him. Still think he has to keep learning but he’s doing an amazing job on that. His attitude and willingness to understand things is great. His physicality helps him adapt to this league and he’s very dangerous on passing and crossing. He was on the bench today because only 11 players can play, and we thought that it was a good moment to play Ema (Twumasi). We know the quality of Minnesota’s wingers and we selected players to help us avoid those situations. At the end of the game, having Geovane fresh could make an impact on the defensive side.”
Goalkeeper Maarten Paes
On earning his second shutout of the season…
“It felt good to get a clean sheet tonight, especially after last week’s performance. It was a tough away game because Minnesota played with a lot of intensity. Luckily, we were able to shut the door on them and didn’t allow any goals in. We could’ve scored, but it wasn’t our best performance overall. Sometimes you have to be happy to earn a point on the road considering all the factors that come into play.”
On preparing to host St. Louis CITY SC…
“Getting the clean sheet tonight is important for the defenders. I feel like this helps us boost our confidence. Playing against a low block we were able to keep them outside of our 18. We were able to defend properly in set pieces today, and that is something that Minnesota is strong at. Next week is a new challenge, and we are already looking forward to it.”
