Like we could have said after the wins in New York and San Jose earlier in the month, FC Dallas finally did the damn thing in Colorado. For the first time since 2014, Dallas walked out of Commerce City with all three points, grinding out a 2-1 win over the Rapids in a match that felt very “MLS After Dark meets Survivor.” Two first half penalty kicks from Logan Farrington and Santiago Moreno gave Dallas the cushion it needed before Colorado threw everything it could in the second half.
The result also continued a strong stretch for Eric Quill’s side, who are beginning to show a little more steel away from home in the early stages of a very long nine-game road trip. While it wasn’t pretty, the defensive effort was good enough to absorb pressure, keep Jonathan Sirois from having to stand on his head in goal, and frustrate the Rapids faithful all evening.
This was the kind of road win playoff teams usually find a way to steal.
Let’s dive in.
The game plan is the game plan
Going into the game without arguably the club’s two most important players, Petar Musa and Osaze Urhoghide, the game plan was remarkably simple from Quill. Pack it in, boot the ball forward at key moments, make them pay with the efficient attack and hold on for dear life at the end.
It is gritty as hell, but when you come out of games like this with three points, you really can’t get too upset that the possession wasn’t there or that the only true scoring chances came from the penalty spot.
“We found a way, and these guys dug deep. I'm really proud of their mentality to just fight and scrap. The back post defending on so many crosses, Sam Sarver, Ran Binyamin, Sebastien Ibeagha, Shaq Moore, those guys killed it on the backline defending so many crosses. Nolan killed it when he came in.” - Eric Quill on the win.
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