FC Dallas lost their third game of the 2023 season on Saturday evening, losing 3-1 to New York City FC.
Lineups
FC Dallas — Maarten Paes; Geovane Jesus (Ema Twumasi – 69’), Nkosi Tafari, José Martínez, Marco Farfan (Sam Junqua – 76’); Facundo Quignon (Jesús Ferreira – 57’), Sebastian Lletget, Paxton Pomykal (Tsiki Ntsabeleng – 69’), Paul Arriola, Jesús Jiménez (Bernard Kamungo – 69’), Jáder Obrian.
Substitutes not used — Jimmy Maurer, Sebastian Ibeagha, Nolan Norris, Edwin Cerrillo.
New York City FC — Luis Barraza; Mitja Ilenič, Thiago Martins, Maxime Chanot, Braian Cufré; Richard Ledezma (Alfredo Morales – 65’), James Sands, Keaton Parks; Gabriel Pereira (Matias Pellegrini – 78’), Santiago Rodriguez, Talles Magno (Andres Jasson – 78’).
Substitutes not used — Matt Freese, Justin Haak, Tony Alfaro, Tayvon Gray, Kevin O’Toole, Gabe Segal.
Scoring Summary:
NYC: Santiago Rodríguez – 44’
NYC: Santiago Rodríguez (Gabriel Pereira, Richard Ledezma) – 50’
NYC: Talles Magno – 55’
FCD: José Martínez (Tsiki Ntsabeleng, Jesús Ferreira) – 77’
Misconduct Summary:
FCD: Paxton Pomykal (caution) – 51’
FCD: Jáder Obrian (caution) – 66’
FCD: Paul Arriola (caution) – 71’
NYC: Santiago Rodríguez (caution) – 90’
Weather: Cloudy, 60°F
Stats
Possession: FCD 44.8%, NYC 55.2%
Shots: FCD: 16, NYC 21
Shots on Goal: FCD 8, NYC 6
Passing Accuracy: FCD 82.5%, NYC 87.8%
Corner Kicks: FCD 6, NYC 3
Fouls: FCD 15, NYC 9
Yellow Cards: FCD 3, NYC 1
FC DALLAS POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Nico Estévez
It didn’t seem like the team possessed the ball the way it usually does. What was your assessment of that?
“I think we had a pretty good first half. We were very different than the way that you’re seeing. It’s really difficult to play in this stadium. It’s a small field, relatively smaller than the soccer fields that we usually play. I think that we were really good. We just had a mistake and we had chances to score even more than them and we went to halftime down 1-0. I think we were worse at the beginning of the second half. I think we lost possession there and it’s why they punished us with transitions. After that, I think we had the right mentality to get back into the game. We scored a goal and before we scored a goal, we created a couple chances that were dangerous, but the game was already very difficult for us. But I think I’m really happy on the first half, playing away against a team that usually wants to dominate the opponent.”
How crucial was Geovane Jesus’ verticality is to the FC Dallas attack?
“I think we see how important it is when he joins in the attack, right? Sometimes he needs to read when we are building and when the opponent is pressing high, not to be that high because sometimes it’s difficult if a team is pressing like New York. He was sometimes too high in some actions. In others, I think he did well in the attack.”
On how NYCFC contained Paul Arriola and Jesús Ferreira
“I think when Jesus came in, New York was up and it was more difficult to find spaces where he could be dangerous. Sometimes he dropped too much and where he was getting the ball, he didn’t affect the attack. He was more helpful in possessing the ball. Sometimes he didn’t help us to control the game but then we had difficulties finding more verticality in some moments in the second half.
With Paul, he got in really good position between the lines while we were transitioning in the first half a lot of times. He had one shot and he had some good passes wide. I think New York City’s back line did a good job becoming very narrow and forcing him to play those balls and after that it didn’t come. I think he had really good mobility. He took, a couple times, the center backs out of the box. We got crosses with a numerical advantage inside the box and it was part of the game plan. The thing is he was doing his side but on the other side we had more problems finding those crosses. When he was ready to go in the penalty box and probably for that situation he couldn’t get more goal-scoring opportunities today.”
Defender Sam Junqua
On the momentum shift before half time…
“The second half doesn’t represent who we are. Despite the late goal in the first half, that was one of the best displays we have seen in a while. Sometimes you concede a goal and that shifts the momentum. The first half was good and the second half was one to forget.”
On what went wrong in the second half…
“We will take a look at the film mid-week, but I want to say we were disconnected. When they broke our pressure and switched it, they had a jailbreak and came to our defense. Once they have enough of those, they will score some.”
On the team's mentality heading into Minnesota…
“With the disappointment that we are having from this game, we will look to turn it around during the week in training. We want to head to Minnesota with the best chance of getting the three points on the road.”
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