It took just 90 seconds for FC Dallas to turn 90 minutes of frustration into a point that felt like three on Saturday night at FC Dallas Stadium against Sporting Kansas City.
Sporting ended the Houston Dynamo’s league-record 30-match home unbeaten streak earlier this year so when Je-Vaughn Watson inadvertently chested the ball into his own goal to put Dallas down by two goals for the first time at home this year, it looked like the visitors would be ending another long streak.
READ: Match Recap - FC Dallas 2, Sporting Kansas City 2
However, Dallas never put their heads down for a second.
“As soon as the [second] goal was scored, I turned around and all the teammates were saying ‘come on come on,’” said Watson. “They scored the goal, but everyone was on top of it saying that we’ve got to come back and keep fighting and putting our bodies into everything.”
All FCD needed was a spark and that came in the 68th minute as Sporting forward CJ Sapong was given his marching orders for kicking a ball at Andrew Jacobson who was down on the pitch after one of SKC’s 24 fouls. It took 20 minutes, but Dallas knew if they could get the first goal, a second could very well follow.
“That was the aim of it,” Watson said about finding the first goal. “As soon as we got the first goal, we thought there might be a little bit of panic because they don’t want to concede.”
In 90 wild seconds, the heads of Jacobson and Walker Zimmerman did indeed tie the game showing that “refuse to lose” mentality that we’ve seen from FC Dallas over the past few years.
WATCH: Match highlights - FC Dallas 2, Sporting Kansas City 2
“Very seldom do I talk to the team at the end of the game on the field, because normally I talk to them in the locker room,” head coach Schellas Hyndman told reporters after the game. “But I got them all together, because I wanted to let them know what a great sign it was for them - their determination and desire not to lose. For us to have a good season, we have to do well at home. Tonight showed the character of this team.”
“It’s really good, every guy is fighting and everyone’s playing their role,” said Watson. “It’s like the beginning of the season, because everyone just keeps running. Everybody is fighting because in the locker room here we never give up.”
