FC Dallas ends winless run, downs Houston Dynamo 2-0
FC Dallas ends winless run, downs Houston Dynamo 2-0
The seven-game winless streak is in the books.
FC Dallas ended their seven-game winless streak on Saturday night, downing rivals Houston Dynamo 2-0.
Peter Musa and Sebastien Ibeagha scored in the second half to help FC Dallas take the early series lead in the 2024 Texas Derby.
Five minutes into the match, Houston was reduced to ten men as Griffin Dorsey picked up a straight red card. Liam Fraser played a long ball across the pitch to Marco Farfan, who got in behind Dorsey. Farfan had a clear path to goal as Dorsey brought him down.
Despite the man advantage, FC Dallas struggled to create chances on goal in the first half. The best chance came in the 42nd minute when Petar Musa got behind a Houston defender, but his attempt was snuffed out by Steve Clark.
After the halftime break, FC Dallas finally broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute on Musa’s third goal of the season. After a quick give-and-go with Bernard Kamunga, Ema Twuamsi played Musa into the penalty area. The Croatian took one touch around a defender before finding the far post for the game’s first goal.
Dallas doubled their lead in the 80th minute on a header from Ibeagha. After a couple of corner kicks, Sam Junqua collected the ball outside the penalty area and sent a curling ball to the back post, where Ibeagha headed home his second career goal.
Instant Reaction: This was the game the club had to win. It is as simple as that. You can’t be up a man for 85 minutes in a match and not come away with at least a pair of goals. The first half looked more like what we’ve seen all season long: a lot of timid shooting in the attacking third of the field.
But the second half was a great change. More balls were played into the penalty area that Musa and others could reach.
It paid off, and now Nico Estevez can possibly breathe a bit easier going into next week.
Man of the Match: The stadium crowd gave it to Musa, so let’s go there.
What’s next for FC Dallas: The club heads north to Canada to battle Toronto FC at BMO Field next Saturday.