Abe Thompson only scores goals in stoppage time. At least that’s what the FC Dallas striker would have you believe. In the last two games, Thompson has played the role of Euro 2008’s Turkish “fireman” Semih Şentürk, scoring stoppage time goals in three of four halves. Thompson’s 91st minute equalizer against the Kansas City Wizards gave FC Dallas a crucial draw on Independence Day at Pizza Hut Park.
With a superior display of touch passing and attacking football Tuesday night at Pizza Hut Park, FC Dallas dominated Miami FC Blues in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. With two stoppage time goals, one in the first half and one in the second half, Abe Thompson continued his excellent play in the national championship and provided coach Schellas Hyndman with his first victory as manager.
FC Dallas took to the road Thursday night for an encounter with in-state rivals Houston Dynamo. The second match of the Schellas Hyndman era looked very much like the first, at least in the opening 45 minutes. But Kenny Cooper’s equalizer in the second half gave Dallas a crucial point and ownership of “El Capitán” for a year.
The first game of the Schellas Hyndman era ended in a shutout loss for FC Dallas Saturday evening at Giants Stadium against Red Bull New York. The defeat continued the Red Stripes’ futility on the road this season, giving them a 1-4-2 mark away from Pizza Hut Park. For Hyndman, it was a less than impressive christening of his MLS coaching career.
Building on the solid performance in the second half of last week’s match at New England, FC Dallas put together a fine ninety minutes of possession and counter-attacking soccer at home against the Chicago Fire on Sunday afternoon in Frisco. Watching the game at Pizza Hut Park was SMU headman Schellas Hyndman, purportedly the first-choice candidate to become the Hoops’ new head coach.
Playing their fourth game under interim head coach Marco Ferruzzi, FC Dallas were looking to get back to basics on the road against New England on Friday evening in Massachusetts. Despite a good attacking display in the second half, it was two critical errors in the first half that led to the Red Stripes’ undoing.
FC Dallas played its third game in eight days on Sunday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park against the Colorado Rapids. Despite the long week, fatigue did not look to be a major factor in a 2-1 loss to the Rapids. But at the final whistle, without several key players in their starting lineup, the Hoops found themselves up the creek.
The outcome of the Texas Derby, and the fate of the 19th century cannon El Capitán, will have to wait until late June when FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo meet for a third and final time during the 2008 MLS regular season. On Wednesday night at Pizza Hut Park, the teams played to a 2-2 draw, making the series 5-5 on aggregate after the first two encounters.
After the surprise mid-week firing of FC Dallas head coach Steve Morrow, it fell to former assistant, now interim head coach Marco Ferruzzi to get his players focused on the task ahead, a home match against Western Conference foes Real Salt Lake. Winless in their last four matches, the Red Stripes were also looking to get out of the funk that led to Morrow’s firing.
Last season’s SuperLiga match between Los Angeles Galaxy and FC Dallas saw the Galaxy jump out to a 4-0 lead in the first twenty minutes of play. But in a thrilling comeback bid, FC Dallas rallied to score five goals, only to lose 6-5. Incredibly, on Sunday in Frisco, the Galaxy again jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but this time FC Dallas could not escape from the hole.