- FC Dallas 2022 SuperDraft pick Tsiki Ntsabeleng made his second consecutive substitute appearance
- MLS Box Score
FOXBOROUGH, MA (March 3, 2022) - FC Dallas (0-1-1, 1 point) was defeated 1-0 by the New England Revolution (1-0-1, 4 points) in its first away match of the season at Gillette Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Game Summary
First Half:
- 23’ – SHOT (DAL) – Marco Farfan joined the attack and attempted a left-footed shot from outside the box but it was saved by Earl Edwards Jr in goal.
- 26’ – CHANCE (DAL) – Jesús Ferreira found Jáder Obrian with a slipped pass behind New England’s backline but the chance was blocked by Henry Kessler.
- 41’ – SHOT (NE) – Brandon Bye carried the ball behind Dallas’ backline and his cutback found Gustavo Bou whose shot was blocked by Matt Hedges.
- 45’ – GOAL (NE) – Carles Gil gave New England the lead from the penalty spot after he was tripped by Paxton Pomykal in the box.
Second Half
- 52’ – SHOT (DAL) – Ferreira controlled the ball on the edge of the Revolution’s box but his curling shot was high over the bar.
- 55’ – SHOT (NE) – Adam Buksa nearly doubled New England’s lead with a header but Hedges was there to make the goal-line clearance.
- 68’ – SHOT (DAL) – Nanu connected with a looping ball but his left-footed volley was blocked on the edge of New England’s box.
- 73’ – SHOT (DAL) – Paul Arriola collected Brandon Servania’s through ball and found Ferreira with a low cross but his first-time shot flew over the bar.
- 75’ – SAVE (DAL) – Maarten Paes made a crucial double save to deny Bou initially before gathering Gil’s rebound shot from close range.
- 81’ – SHOT (NE) – Gil found Bou at the back post but his instinctive shot only found the side netting.
FC Dallas Postgame Quotes
FC Dallas Head Coach Nico Estévez
His initial thoughts on the match…
“Disappointed with the result because we came here to get three points away (from home). We knew it was a big challenge against the Supporters’ Shield winners. They also added new good players to their roster. But I think we showed what we’re building, a team that’s not scared, that’s brave–a team that goes away and tries to impose their style of play and their game. I think in the second half we completely dominated them, even though we had a goal against with an unfortunate decision. But we responded. This shows a lot of the mentality that this team is building, it needs a couple things to get better in front of the goal, and this will help us prepare for what’s coming up this season.”
On the defensive performance…
“There were specific things this week to work on defending the penalty box. New England is a team that accumulates a lot of players in the box, they have big targets there. You have to be very prepared, very compact to avoid these kind of situations. We worked a lot on that this week. I think the players did a fantastic job being solid. And this is what we’re trying to build, a team that is solid and wins away and gets points…We’re very pleased with the work that our center backs, fullbacks and central mids did today because they did an amazing job protecting the goal.”
FC Dallas defender Marco Farfan
On his takeaways from the match…
“I don’t think the result defines the way we played this game. We didn’t start off too well, as we expected, but were able to manage the chances they had. Overall throughout the whole game, I think we had the better chances, the better moments both offensively and defensively. They had one or two shots on goal, and they had that PK that gave them the goal to win. But everyone in the locker room was frustrated that we could’ve won this game at. At minimum, come away with a point. That just shows the mentality of this group. We played one of the best teams in the league away and could’ve came out with a point.”
On playing with Jáder Obrian and Paul Arriola…
“I think it’s just defining what spaces they take up and learning to be fluid with those moments. It’s good to understand them and them understand me so it’s fluid with different movements and we’re not very readable when they make those runs and movements.”
On contributing to the attacking side of the ball…
“Coming in, I wanted to make sure that I was solid defensively and trying to excel from that standpoint. At the end of the day, I’m a defender. Last game, I didn’t try to get forward as much and I tried to get forward more, even when it’s difficult because they were playing with two forwards at times, and you never want to leave your center backs 2v2. This game I felt more comfortable getting forward and I think that’s part of my game that will continue improving over the year, game in and game out."
FC Dallas Goalkeeper Maarten Paes
On the chemistry with the defense in the back..
“We are doing quite well, we are not conceding many chances, also against Toronto, we only allowed one goal. I think the backline is doing quite well, (Matt) Hedges, José (Martínez) and the fullbacks support very well. It is frustrating that we can't turn it into results.”
On adapting to the MLS…
“It is going quite well. It is something different because I came from the other side of the world and quite the same. I think the adjustments are going well, my girlfriend and I are already feeling at home. That says a lot about the people here and about the country. They are friendly people. There is a time difference and we had to get used to that, but I am feeling like every week I will make improvements. I am very happy to be here in Dallas but not too happy today because we weren’t able to get the result. In the progression, I am happy how far we have come."
On the double save…
“When you are pushing for the goal, there are spaces in transition that will be big. They left their two strikers up front, including Gil. I knew there would be a chance for Bou or Buksa in the counterattack. He struck the ball quite hard, and with the artificial turf, it changes the way we deal with the ball. I did my best and I knew Bou was at the second post and moved central which he ended up taking the second shot. I held it quite well, I was ready to transition forward after the sequence.”
