FC Dallas Loses Late in KC

FC Dallas finds itself on somewhat of a skid (let’s face it: the Portland match should’ve been won) after losing 2-1 to Sporting KC at Livestrong Park Sunday evening. If not a skid, then certainly the boys from Frisco left the game with their confidence battered.

Goals for FCD were sparse and unpredictable. Dallas’ sole goal was from a brilliant Ricardo Villar free kick from 22 yards out in the 25th minute. The little Brazilian’s curling effort bent and dipped just after it passed over the Kansas City wall and towards the near post. It was superb. It was against the run of play. It was the product of a questionable call from the referee. The same really goes for Kansas City’s goal in the 49th (yes, 49th minute) of the first half. Zusi lobbed a curling ball towards the back post that was skimmed over the flailing grasp of Kevin Hartman from 40 yards out by Aurelien Collin. It was yet another goal triggered from an unwarranted call by the referee.

The dagger came from a SKC counterattack in the 88th minute that started up the right flank, continued into the feet of Kamara, who swung the ball back out wide to Chance Myers only to have the ball returned low, to the near-post, and swept underneath an oncoming Kevin Hartman and sliding Ugo Ihemelu. Goals for SKC were predictable, at least from scouting reports that stated merely that the team was strong on set pieces, counterattacks, and balls served from the wings. Kamara’s game winner was a combination of the final two threats assessed about Sporting.

Looking at the game day roster most would’ve predicted a stunted Dallas attack. Those predictions would’ve been spot-on. Blas seemed to still be very isolated, especially after the Villar collision towards the end of the 1st half. Ricardo was lively, especially after his peach of a free kick; his confidence was on his sleeve and his pace picked up the pace of the Dallas offense. Still, getting forward and setting up quality chances were a struggle from the collision onward, truthfully. When chances are limited your few quality chances have to be taken, and Dallas was simply unable to finish. A couple of clear opportunities should have been finished: one from a Jair Benitez run on the left flank that should’ve been a tap in for Jacobson, and another on an open header from a corner were all Dallas could conjure during the second half.  With all this talk about few chances and bad finishing it’s amazing I haven’t mentioned Maicon Santos…yet.

Was the Sporting attack unstoppable? No. In fact, up until the 49th minute, services were quite poor from Kansas City. I definitely tweeted at about minute 44 “Zusi and Myers haven’t provided anything of quality this half” or some jazzy garbage like that (insert foot in mouth). Yet, Benitez and Leyva had done a solid job of minimizing the threats from out wide to their credit. The midfield trio of Jacobson, Hernandez, and Villar broke up much of KC’s attack through the middle. Still, this was a defensive performance that FCD will probably want to put out of memory. Ihemelu probably put in his worst performance of the season, and especially during set pieces and counters the back line looked disorganized.

You can chalk up Sporting’s goals to mistakes made by Dallas: 1. Giving away set pieces to a proven marksman like Graham Zusi (and to a team that has a definite aerial threat) in the defensive third, and 2. committing too many numbers forward and allowing Kansas City to counter late in the match. Let’s face it: after their late victory at DC United during Gameweek 1 there was always a chance of SKC leaving it late. My preview of this game was titled “To the Death…Again,” and that notion couldn’t have been truer Sunday evening as KC ran FCD ragged late into the match. It could’ve also been titled “Let’s Not Play to the Enemy’s Strengths” but I couldn’t grab much attention with that, right?

But the faithful should still keep that which binds them: faith that FCD can reverse this minor blip into a string of wins and solid defensive showings. Pieces of the puzzle have been missing since Gameweek 1, really. Ferreira’s still been out; Castillo was injured in the 31st minute versus New York. Against Kansas City the presence of Shea, Ferreira, Rodriguez, and Castillo would have put Sporting on their back foot, and forced them to play deeper than desirable. We really have yet to see Dallas with all its offensive weapons on the same field. That and it’s also the only time we’ll have to play Kansas City this year, and they will more than likely give the rest of our Western Conference foes the same problems.

You could say that the ills of the past two games have all been mental: two leads lost due to errors after 45 minutes. FCD’s mental toughness and maturity has to progress in these next few games. They need to go up early. They need to come out strong. But they need to lock things down during dire moments and prove to themselves they can keep the opponent entirely at bay. If you never let the other team score, you’ll never lose, or so the saying/colloquialism/sage words of thousands of soccer coaches goes. Many players could easily say “it was our fault today,” and they’d be right. But the talent, experience, and vetted leadership within Dallas’ squad will see this through.

(image courtesy of fcdallas.com)