Grand Theft Khano
April 25th, 2008 . 9:56 am . By: John CarltonWith manager Steve Nicol’s New England Revolution banged-up and missing six starters, FC Dallas had a great chance to make a statement to the rest of the league Thursday night in Frisco. The New England squad fielded a bevy of young, unproven players, while Dallas was able to play something close to its best XI. Importantly for New England, the spine of their team – goalkeeper Matt Reis, defender Michael Parkhurst and central midfielder Shalrie Joseph – was on the pitch and in good form. Those three players, plus one good strike by left winger Khano Smith, proved to be enough for New England to defeat FC Dallas. The opening half featured a number of good chances for both teams. Hoops’ midfielder Marcelo Saragosa tried a shot from the top of the penalty area in the 17th minute that missed just wide right. A few minutes later, Juan Toja volleyed a hard shot from a corner kick that Matt Reis deflected off his right glove. In the 20th minute Shalrie Joseph hit a shot from 25 yards that forced a parried save from FC Dallas netminder Sala. The always-active Joseph then sent in a good cross in the final moments of the first half that found the head of big forward Adam Cristman, but he could not get any power behind his header. In the second half, FC Dallas showed better determination, but still could not get anything past Matt Reis. Juan Toja’s hard shot from the top of the penalty area in the 53rd minute again found the safe hands of Reis. After the hour-mark, with neither team looking particularly dangerous, it appeared as though the first goal may be the winner. That goal came in the 72nd minute, when Khano Smith received a pass from Zimbabwean forward Kheli Dube down the left side. Fighting off Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty, Smith cut inside and skated along the top of the penalty area before unleashing a heavy running shot with his right foot to the far post. Dario Sala was caught on the wrong side of the goalmouth, but it was a good strike from the Revolution winger. Describing the play afterwards Smith said, “It actually hit (McCarty’s) hand but the ref let the play go on, so I was able to get in front of him and get to the ball. I was trying to go outside actually but he kept showing me inside. As I got close to the box, I decided to take a shot with my right.” Dallas manager Steve Morrow reacted to the goal by inserting speedy forwards Ricardinho and Dominic Oduro, both of whom looked fast and lively. Ricardinho even managed to get through the Revs back line and get a shot on goal in stoppage time, but Reis scooped up the shot and the game was effectively over. Steve Morrow commented after the game that “New England came in here and stole the game from us.” New England gaffer Steve Nicol responded, “We had six starting players that did not come here, and taking three points, certainly we didn’t steal it.” Whether or not the game was stolen, in the context of a long season, it looks more like petty theft than grand larceny. New England Revolution (3-2-1) vs. FC Dallas (2-1-2)April 24, 2008 — Pizza Hut Park Scoring Summary: New England Revolution – Matt Reis, Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, Amaechi Igwe, Wells Thompson, Gary Flood, Shalrie Joseph, Khano Smith, Chase Hilgenbrinck, Adam Cristman (Kheli Dube 59), Kenny Mansally, Substitutes Not Used: Sam Brill, Argenis Fernandez, Brandon Tyler, Rob Valentino, Spencer Wadsworth, Doug Warren FC Dallas – Dario Sala, Drew Moor, Duilio Davino, Adrian Serioux, Dax McCarty, Andre Rocha, Marcelo Saragosa (Pablo Ricchetti 64), Juan Toja (Ricardinho 71), Blake Wagner (Dominic Oduro 79), Arturo Alvarez, Kenny Cooper, Substitutes Not Used: Mike Graczyk, Aaron Pitchkolan, Abe Thompson, Anthony Wallace
Misconduct Summary: referee: Alex Prus 4 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pretty even game but winner’s have to win and they did.
On a side note, I can’t wait for GTA IV on Tuesday.
this league just can’t afford to see the negative, defensive tactics employed by Nichol. It’s time Garber banned these low pressure tactics from the league.
Unfortunately, our goal chances were limited by the play of Blake Wagner on the wing, who was simply awful. He should not be on this FC Dallas starting team, let alone play so deep in the game. By the time Morrow made the change, the odds were stacked against gaining the equalizer. Oduro looked good, as he almost always does, but came into the game too late to create enough chances. Also simply awful was Ricardinho, and this assessment is sad for me to make, since I have been a huge fan of his. The bottom line is, he makes poor decisions, he is easily out-muscled and dispossessed of the ball, and he does not have the vision to be a serious play maker. In sum, if Wagner and Ricardinho were not on the pitch, we would have had a much better chance of winning that game.