FC Dallas secured their place in the Round of 32 in this year’s Leagues Cup on Tuesday night with an emphatic 2-0 win over Liga MX’s Club Necaxa.

Lineups
FC Dallas
— Maarten Paes; Marco Farfan, Sebastien Ibeagha, José Martínez (Nkosi Tafari – 60’), Geovane Jesus, (Sam Junqua – 61’); Edwin Cerrillo, Alan Velasco, Sebastian Lletget (Paxton Pomkyal – 77’); Jáder Obrian (Eugene Ansah – 60’), Jesús Ferreira, Bernard Kamungo (Paul Arriola – 67’)

Substitutes not used — Jimmy Maurer, Antonio Carrera, Amet Korça, Ema Twumasi, Dante Sealy.

Club Necaxa — Raúl Gudiño; Jorge Rodriguez, Alfredo Gutierrez, Fabricio Formiliano, Alán Montes, Edgar Méndez, Cristian González (Ricardo Monreal – 78’); Edgar Mendéz (Emilio Martinez – 78’), José Esquivel, Vicente Poggi (Maximiliano Silvera – 67’), Brayan Garnica (Rogelio Cortéz – 67’); Facundo Batista, (Andrés Colorado – 39’).

Substitutes not used — Emiliano Pérez, Heriberto Jurado, Josué Domínguez, Alek Álvarez, Jair Cortés, Angel Chávez.

Scoring Summary:
DAL:
Sebastian Lletget (Bernard Kamungo) – 24’
DAL: Eugene Ansah (Sebastian Lletget) – 62’
DAL: Jesús Ferreira – 73’

Misconduct Summary:
NEC:
Alán Montes (ejection) – 11’
DAL: Alan Velasco (caution) – 28’
DAL: Geovane Jesus (caution) – 38’
NEC: Alfredo Gutierrez (caution) – 45’
NEC: Cristian Gonzalez (caution) – 45’
NEC: Andres Colorado (caution) – 47’
NEC: Jorge Rodriguez (caution) – 90’

Weather: Sunny, 101ºF
Attendance: 6,149

Stats

FC DALLAS POSTGAME QUOTES

Head Coach Nico Estévez
On scoring more goals…
“These attacking adjustments are something we’ve been working on the past three to four weeks. We’ve changed the way we attack and added a lot of variation to it. It’s really nice to see the changes working because it’s not just the goals we score but also the clear chances we created throughout the game. There are still some details on the attacking side we can improve on, but I’m happy the things we’ve been working on helped us to score more goals, which is the most important thing. Scoring six goals in the past three games is really good for us.“

On the second half mentality…
“We started the second half well, with a good chance by Marco that hit the post. Club Necaxa has quality and plays in a really good league, with players like Edgar Méndez, who have played in La Liga. They can pose a threat with crosses because they have a lot of bodies in the box, similar to Colorado Rapids. Maarten always helps us, and it’s good to have him make important saves for us. After that, we regrouped well and were able to score some more of our chances.”

Midfielder Sebastian Lletget
On the bounce-back performance…
“The way we responded today makes me really proud of our guys and really proud of this team. Losing is always tough, and this was a quick turnaround, but that does help when you have a result that doesn’t go your way, you want to play right away, and I’m happy that we got the win.“

On the next Leagues Cup game…
“I believe the next game is at home as well, so that is an advantage. Playing in front of these great fans, we need to take advantage of it.“

Forward Eugene Ansah
On scoring his first FC Dallas goal…
“It felt amazing. I’m very happy for the team and winning at home. We struggled a little last game, and this was a must-win for everyone. I’m very glad that I brought my qualities to this team, and we won the game tonight.”

On what the team learned
“We learned several things from the last game and took those lessons from it, there were several good things and this time around, it worked. We are very happy to advance to the next round.”

On advancing in the Leagues Cup…
“Since I came to Dallas, I see that this is a team that wants to compete. We have players on this team that want to compete and bring their qualities to the game, so we really want to move forward in this tournament, and how far we go depends on us.”

Goalkeeper Maarten Paes
On the importance of getting a dominant win…
“Getting the win and a clean sheet is important. Yes, they went down a player early, but looking at the Minnesota and Puebla game, it does not mean you will dominate and score lots of goals in most cases. When we took the lead our message was to just keep pushing for another goal instead of relaxing. 3-0 is a great scoreline for a goalkeeper.”

On making a deep run in Leagues Cup…
“The chances are high, especially when you play at home. At the beginning of the season, we said we wanted to win trophies. Leagues Cup is a great opportunity because it’s a new tournament. There’s some stuff we need to keep getting used to, but I think it’s a great tournament so far that I would like to win.”