Some nights you lose because you got unlucky. Some nights you lose because you didn’t show up.
Saturday in San Diego, FC Dallas fell 1-0 to San Diego FC in a game where they chased the ball for the majority of the match and struggled to find connection up front when they did have the ball.
Things got tough for Dallas early when goalkeeper Daniel pulled up with a hamstring injury and had to come off. His backup, Jonathan Sirois to his credit answered most of what San Diego put in front of him, as he made four saves. But the one that mattered, a shot from distance in the 50th minute by Alejandro Alvarado was enough to seal the victory for the hosts.
Dallas only mustered one shot on target in the entire match, with just six total shots to their tally.
Key Moments
9’ - Delgado nearly gets one early! Dallas gets into a good spot around the top of the penalty box. Delgado was able to tee it up and take a look on goal for the first attempt of the match, but the ball went wide.
16’ - Big chance for San Diego as Ingvartsen gets around Ibeagha. The Danish striker crossed the ball to Valakari inside the six yard box. He made a touch on the ball that forced Daniel to make a kick save.
32’ - Big save by Sirois! Dreyer opens up the Dallas defense as he finds Ingvartsen inside the penalty box. The Danish striker took a quick strike that forced Sirois to make a diving stop.
50’ - Goal San Diego. The hosts finally break the deadlock as Duah finds Alejandro Alvarado dances through the Dallas midfield before firing a shot from distance to beat Sirois.
59’ - Valakari nearly doubles the lead for San Diego. Dreyer drove the ball into the penalty area and then pulled it back to Valakari, who immediately hits a shot that pings off the post.
72’ - Finally a decent chance for Dallas as Dos Santos has to come off his line to make a save on a ball into Julio. Moreno collects it at the top of the penalty box but his attempt goes too high.
90+4’ - Fast break chance for Farrington with a chance on goal but his attempt gets blocked out of the way by Duah.
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Instant Reaction
Going into half with only two shots, it felt like this was a game where Dallas had to make some subs early to get a spark going. But even when the subs did come on, the spark just failed to get going. Anderson Julio clearly looked rusty in his first appearance since February. Santiago Moreno had some moments and probably should have started over Patrickson Delgado.
It wasn’t totally that the defense let everyone down on the night as the lone goal was a pretty good play by Alvarado.
In a way this one feels like a continuation of what we saw in the dying minutes in Portland on Wednesday. A disappointing outing, one that we’ll need this group to move on quickly from if they want to get their form back that we saw in May.
About the Subs
Eric Quill had to go to the bench early to bring Jonathan Sirois on as Daniel was subbed out 19 minutes into the match as he appeared to injure his hamstring on a save. After halftime, Bernard Kamungo came on for Joaquin Valiente. At the hour mark, two subs were made when Santiago Moreno and Anderson Julio came on for Patrickson Delgado and Ran Binyamin. Logan Farrington was the final sub in the 79th minute, as he came on for Sebastien Ibeagha.
Man of the Match
Let’s go with Sirois, who did keep things close after coming off the bench.
Where does this fit into the season
The loss keeps Dallas on 26 points and thanks to Houston’s win over Austin tonight, it will actually push Dallas down into 6th place.
What’s next for FC Dallas
FC Dallas continues its nine-game road trip next weekend when they return to California to battle the LA Galaxy.
