The Surge is Working
September 29th, 2008 . By: John Carlton
From the opening kick, FC Dallas looked ready for the fight. The midfield won balls with ease for virtually the entire match. The forwards sprinted into open spaces and caused DC United’s back line to lose its shape. The defense pitched a shutout with grace and solid positioning. And goalkeeper Dario Sala was only tasked with three fairly easy saves on the afternoon. The Red Stripes got on the board early, a positive trend from the last few matches, when in the 9th minute Andre Rocha flighted a free kick from 35 yards that took one bounce two yards shy of the goal line and bounced untouched into the net. Rocha’s unpredictable free kicks have become something of a surprise element in the Dallas attack over the course of the season, and once again the flight and velocity of Rocha’s cross caught the opposing goalkeeper wrong-footed. DC United, for their part, looked lifeless and bereft of ideas. Stalwarts Jaime Moreno, Luciano Emilio and Fred were completely de-fanged in attack. Aaron Pitchkolan and Drew Moor get special commendations for their yeoman-like work in defense, while Adrian Serioux and Blake Wagner made few missteps on the wings. Emilio’s best chances came late in the first half when he shot well wide from 25 yards out, and early in the second half when Sala came off his line to block Emilio’s shot on goal. The Brazilian forward appeared to pull his hamstring on the play and was soon forced to come off the field. United lost its other forward later in the match when Jaime Moreno was awarded a red card for an elbow to the face of Andre Rocha. The flagrant foul took place right in front of referee Ricardo Salazar, a sign that Moreno had already given up on the game. The second Dallas goal came in the 56th minute when Marcelo Saragosa crossed a ball from the left wing that was re-directed by a United defender into the path of Jeff Cunningham. Cunningham beat his man and the goalkeeper to the deflection and toe-poked the ball into the net. Kenny Cooper capped the game with his 15th goal of the year, slicing and dicing his way through the tired United defense in stoppage time and easily slotting home the goal with his left foot from about 12 yards out. Salazar blew the final whistle after the goal and FC Dallas had earned the most crucial three points of the year in dominating fashion. Next up for FC Dallas is Western Conference bottom-dwellers San Jose on Thursday night. The quick turnaround could be seen as both a positive and a negative: negative in that there will not be adequate time for recuperation, and positive because it allows the Hoops to continue to refine their good late-season form. D.C. United (10-13-3) vs. FC Dallas (8-9-9)September 28, 2008 — Pizza Hut Park Scoring Summary: D.C. United – Louis Crayton, Devon McTavish, Gonzalo Peralta, Bryan Namoff, Ivan Guerrero, Thabiso Khumalo (Ryan Cordeiro 72), Fred, Clyde Simms, Santino Quaranta (Gonzalo Martinez 41), Luciano Emilio (Rod Dyachenko 55), Jaime Moreno, Substitutes Not Used: Craig Thompson, Joe Vide, Zach Wells, Mike Zaher FC Dallas — Dario Sala, Adrian Serioux (Dax McCarty 79), Drew Moor, Aaron Pitchkolan (Duilio Davino 68), Blake Wagner, Andre Rocha, Bruno Guarda, Pablo Ricchetti, Marcelo Saragosa, Kenny Cooper, Jeff Cunningham (Dominic Oduro 69), Substitutes Not Used: Eric Avila, Ray Burse, Michael Dello-Russo, Bobby Rhine
Misconduct Summary: referee: Ricardo Salazar 6 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I think you’re being pretty insulting to Dario Sala, John. The 1 v 1 save he had vs. Emilio was fantastic and kept the score 1-0. If D.C. was allowed that opportunity the game could have been completely different. The D.C. United goalkeeper only had 1 save.
I really think MLS should have “Save Of The Week”. Sala would have won 2 or 3 weeks this season.
Thursday’s game is another must-win that our guys can’t take lightly. We don’t have a good Thursday night record as of late, Darren Huckerby has been looking like the class of MLS, and Arturo Alvarez will have more than a few reasons to pound us into the ground.
My concern is that we played a Chicago team that was flat and a DC team that had no legs.
Thursday we get a team that had been playing really well that just got punched in the nose and finds itself staring into no-playoff-abyss if they don’t win.
We’re going to get their best shot - hope we’re ready for it.
Agree with James completely - we’ve been successful against struggling teams (I know, I know - can only play who’s in front of us). If this weren’t a home game, I’d say we were massive underdogs. As it stands, I am feeling like Debbie Downer and will predicu a 1-1 draw. Please let me be wrong!!
@ Matthew H.
That comment pains me, as I am a big supporter of Sala. I invite you to watch the highlights, though. This was the play that Emilio pulled his hammy on, with the left leg he used to spray the ball wide, which Sala easily collected.
I have to agree with Matthew H., J.C… and not to add insult to injury but Schellas Hyndman and la gente at Al Dia do as well. There was an article today talking about how impressive that save was and how crucial it was for the outcome of the game. Schellas basically said it was the breaking point and that Dario had an exceptional game.
Otherwise, a great article. Look forward to hear what you have to say after the return of Arturito.