Nico Estevez on the loss in Toronto: "We have to be better"

The Dallas manager doesn't hold back on his frustrations in Toronto.

FC Dallas fans thought their team’s struggles were going to be a thing of the past after downing the Houston Dynamo in the first leg of the Texas Derby a week ago. However, as the club is coming off a 3-1 loss on Saturday night to Toronto FC, it appears those struggles may not be quite over.

Head coach Nico Estevez told the media following the club’s sixth loss of the season that the center officials changed the outcome for both teams on the night as they failed to call a penalty kick for Dallas moments before Toronto FC got a penalty kick of their own before halftime that Italian forward Federico Bernardeschi scored.

“Well, first of all, I think it's planned change when the decisions on the officiating are different on one box and in the other box,” lamented Estevez. “When they're clear, clean, tackle in the box, winning the ball suddenly suffocates them.”

Estevez felt the game had changed with the way it was called and went on to share his frustration, saying his team had to be better than what they displayed on Saturday night at BMO Field.

"We had opportunities and chances to make the difference early in the game, but we were not clean enough; we have to learn from that; we have to be better in order to win,” said Estevez. “We cannot be dominant, create good situations, put ourselves in good spots and then after making the wrong pass, or rush the last pass. A player like (Federico) Bernardeschi made the difference today.”

Bernardeschi ended the match with two goals and an assist for the Reds, who picked up their first win over FC Dallas since the 2016 season. Now FC Dallas has to head back to Frisco to prepare for Tuesday’s US Open Cup game against USL Championship side Memphis 901 before hosting rivals Austin FC on Saturday night. FC Dallas captain Paul Arriola is already looking ahead to that match.

“Regardless of win or lose, the Open Cup match on Tuesday is important for us,” said Arriola after the Toronto game. “It’s an amazing opportunity to play in front of our fans at home, and it’s a great match-up. There’s not much time to think about this game. We will study this game to correct what needs to be fixed ahead of the match on Tuesday. But we will move on and look forward to the next one.”