Early goals sink FC Dallas in 3-2 loss at Real Salt Lake
Early goals sink FC Dallas in 3-2 loss at Real Salt Lake
Jesus Ferreira and Alan Velasco scored goals for FCD.
FC Dallas’ playoff chances took a bit hit on Wednesday night as they lost 3-2 to Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah.
The hosts went up early, thanks to a penalty call on Sebastien Ibeagha. Bryan Vera stepped up to the spot and scored the game’s first goal in the 11th minute.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 24th minute as goalkeeper Gavin Beavers played a long ball up the field to Anderson Julio, who scored his first goal of the night.
Dallas was able to pull one back before halftime, as Jesus Ferreira scored his fifth goal of the season off a set piece. The Dallas Homegrown played a quick restart as RSL’s defense was getting into place and was able to curl the ball into the far post. Ferreira has now scored eight goals versus Real Salt Lake, the most in the series.
Julio was able to add a second goal to his tally in the 62nd minute. RSL midfielder Dominik Marczuk played a ball up the right sideline where he beat Marco Farfan and then played a perfect ball into the penalty area that Julio was able to tap in to extend the hosts’ lead.
Late in the match, Dallas was awarded a penalty in the 88th minute. Alan Velasco stepped up to the spot and scored his first goal in over a year.
Instant Reaction: The early goals given up were a huge letdown. RSL flipped the script a bit on FC Dallas and played the counterattack game very well and caught the Dallas defense flat-footed (hey, where have we heard that this season?). Dallas controlled every aspect of this one except for the scoreboard. The chances were there, the shots were better, and the team played with a bit more hunger than they did in Vancouver. The end result just was a disappointment. The one silver lining may be seeing Ferreira back to his old self a bit and Velasco finding the penalty kick goal.
About the subs: Alan Velasco came on before halftime for Show, to help extend his minutes played since coming back from his injury. Ruan came on for Sam Junqua at halftime. Luccin used his last two sub windows in the 71st and 81st minutes to put Logan Farrington in for Nkosi Tafari and Bernard Kamungo in for Ferreira.
Man of the Match: Ferreira had one of his better matches in 2024.
Where this fits in the MLS Playoffs race: The loss certainly hurts as Dallas falls down to 11th place and are now four points back of Minnesota in 9th. The back-to-back home games coming up are absolutely must-win games now for this club.
What’s next for FC Dallas: The club returns home this weekend to host one of the top teams in MLS, LAFC.
Between that early penalty in a silly location and later Musa having an easy lay off pass for a better shot but choosing instead to take a forced shot after thinking about it, it was a disappointing night. Ugh