In front of another sellout crowd at Toyota Stadium, FC Dallas picked up their first win in over a month as they downed St. Louis CITY SC 2-0 on Saturday night.
Dallas got goals from Jesus Ferreira and Nkosi Tafari to snap the five-game winless streak in interim manager Peter Luccin’s first match in charge.
The game began a bit slow, but in the 28th minute, FC Dallas received a penalty kick when Paul Arriola was brought down in the penalty box by Joakim Nilsson. Ferreira stepped up to the spot and scored his third goal of the season.
St. Louis nearly tied it up a minute later on a header by Nökkvi Thórisson, which forced Maarten Paes to make a goal-line save. Ten minutes later, Paes came up big again on a diving save from Joao Klauss, who had taken a shot from outside the penalty box. Paes would end up with four saves in the first half.
After giving up a lot of possession in the opening 20 minutes of the second half, FC Dallas finally settled down. In the 71st minute, Petar Musa helped set up Farrington’s second goal of the season on a no-look pass after chipping the ball to himself along the touchline. Unfortunately, after a video review, it was determined that Musa was offside.
In the 81st minute, Dallas finally extended their lead on Tafari’s first goal of the season after a Sebastian Lletget corner kick. Lletget placed a perfect ball across the St. Louis defense where Tafari could easily head the ball into the back of the net.
Instant Reaction: The new era looked…pretty good. At least at times. Plenty of moments felt similar to what we’ve seen this season. But then there were moments when the team pressed and found chances. It may take a few games before we really know what to expect from a Luccin-led team. Either way, a win is something to smile about with this group finally.
Man of the match: Paes. Hands down, it was Paes with his eight saves.
What’s next for FC Dallas: The team will remain home for the second game of this two-game homestand as they host Minnesota United.
