FC Dallas gets smacked at home by Orlando City 3-1
FC Dallas gets smacked at home by Orlando City 3-1
FC Dallas really failed to step up in this one.
FC Dallas’ playoff chances were already on life support, but Orlando City’s 3-1 win at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night may have sealed their fate.
Orlando controlled the opening portion of the match, and in the 18th minute, the Lions got on the board first with Ramiro Enrique’s header past Maarten Paes. Rafael Santos got the ball along the left side of the Dallas penalty box and then whipped in a ball to the near post, where Enrique beat Omar Gonzalez to head home the game’s first goal.
FC Dallas ended the first half with only a trio of shots, including one on target by Paul Arriola in the 27th minute. The Dallas captain collected the ball 30 yards away from the goal and fired a shot that forced Pedro Gallese to make a diving save.
Six minutes into the second half, Orlando doubled their lead with a goal from Rodrigo Schiegel. Martín Ojeda’s corner kick made its way past a pair of Dallas defenders as Schiegel was able to get an easy header.
Orlando added a third goal four minutes after that as Facundo Torres found his 13th goal of the season. After some miscommunication by the Dallas defense, Enrique collected the ball and then played Torres in behind Arriola as the last Dallas defender. Arriola tried to make a tackle in the penalty box on Torres, but his fast shot beat Paes at the near post.
In the 75th minute, FC Dallas was given a bit of a lifeline as Bernard Kamungo was brought down in the penalty box by Nicolas Lodeiro. Arriola stepped up to the spot and scored his fifth of the season.
FC Dallas nearly pulled one back in the 85th minute as Petar Musa got a ball in the penalty area from Jesus Ferreira. The Croatian ripped a shot that beat Gallese but hit off the crossbar.
In the 90th minute, FC Dallas pulled another goal back as Logan Farrington scored his fifth of the season. But after a long video review, the center official determined that Arriola was in an offside position before playing the ball that eventually found Farrington in the penalty area.
Instant Reaction: Man, FC Dallas had zero answer for Orlando’s press in this one. The Lions came out and controlled this game from the jump. The Dallas defense was under a lot of pressure, and just like we’ve seen too often this season, they gave up some easy goals.
There was a decent bit of fighting in the second half, but it was too little, too late.
About the Subs: After halftime, Luccin pulled Omar Gonzalez for Tsiki Ntsabeleng. In the 63rd minute, Logan Farrington and Bernard Kamungo came on for Patrickson Delgado and Alan Velasco. In the 84th minute, Show came on for Sebastian Lletget.
Man of the Match: It is hard to really give it to anyone in this one.
Where this fits in the MLS Playoffs race: They’re not technically out, at least in terms of the math. But with Minnesota doing well tonight, FC Dallas can kiss the playoffs goodbye.
What’s next for FC Dallas: FC Dallas kicks off a tough two-game road trip on the West coast next week as they visit San Jose on Wednesday night before taking on Portland next Sunday.
If going for it late means Farfan is now your second of two center backs, it is probably not gonna work out well. As for this entire season RB/CB experiment spanning two coaches, I remain as confused as Brek Shea still is for his move to CB back in the day, but that smartly lasted weeks not months.
The first twenty minutes or so felt like FC Dallas was trying to get a feel for Orlando. If the players had been adequately prepared, they should have hit the ground running. It wasn't until the 75th minute that the team started to play with some passion. And by the last 15 minutes Orlando was scrambling to keep up. I know we could play the "what if" game, but truly I'm convinced that if the team that played at the end had been the team throughout, the result would have been better.