FC Dallas survives late Cupset to down Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-1
FC Dallas survives late Cupset to down Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-1
Maarten Paes had himself a game on Wednesday in Florida.
FC Dallas has advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2024 US Open Cup after downing USL Championship side Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Goalkeeper Maarten Paes ended the match with eight saves, while Patrickson Delgado scored his first goal with FC Dallas. Logan Farrington scored his second goal in the tournament to help push FC Dallas to the next round.
FC Dallas got on the board 14 minutes into the match on a goal scored off a corner kick. Jesus Ferreira played the ball short to Tsiki Ntsabeleng, who then played it back to Ferreira. The Dallas DP crossed the ball back to the top of the penalty area where Patrickson Delgado was there to hammer home the game’s first goal.
Dallas doubled their lead in the 26th minute on Farrington’s second Open Cup goal after a strong build up play started by Sebastien Ibeagha. He played the ball quickly up the field to Ntsabeleng. After a quick pass from Ferreira, Herbert Endeley collected the ball and played Farrington through the Tampa defense where he took a couple of dribbles before firing a shot into the net.
Tampa poured on the pressure in the second half as Paes put up several big stops. In the 84th minute they were able to pull one back as Carl Sainte was whistled for a foul in the penalty box. Joshua Perez stepped up and scored the Rowdies penalty.
Paes came up big one more time as Tampa had a corner kick in the final seconds of the match. A Tampa player was able to get a head on the ball but Paes was able to push the attempt over the bar and into safety.
Instant Reaction: Let’s hit the positives first: hey a road win! FC Dallas played well early on in this one and had possibly, or maybe arguably their best first half of the entire season. But the rotation involved, with Jesus Ferreira picking up another injury meant things looked a bit disjointed from about the 40th minute on in this one.
Thank goodness for Paes. Once again we saw how vital it is to have a keeper like him in the net. The more saves he makes, the more confidence the defense seems to get.
Man of the Match: No question about it, Maarten Paes.
What’s next for FC Dallas: The club returns home to battle Real Salt Lake on Saturday evening.