MATCH NOTES
- El Capitán remains in North Texas for the second straight year.
- Maarten Paes registered his seventh clean sheet of the season.
- FC Dallas remains unbeaten on the road in its last three road matches.
Houston, Texas (September 30, 2023) – FC Dallas (10-10-11, 41 points) played Houston Dynamo FC (12-11-8, 44 points) to a 0-0 draw in the 2023 Texas Derby finale at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday night. Dallas holds an all-time record of 14-13-19 against Houston in league play.
EL CAPITÁN
The Texas Derby series between FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo FC ended even after the clubs tied both regular season matches against each other (1-1 on May 20 and 0-0 on Sept. 30). With the series tied, El Capitán (a Civil War-era replica cannon) will remain at Toyota Stadium for a second-consecutive season unless the clubs meet in the MLS Cup playoffs, the final Texas Derby tiebreaker. Toyota Stadium has housed El Capitán in four out of the last five years.
COPA TEJAS
With tonight’s draw, the Copa Tejas title (the fan-inspired head-to-head-competition between FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo and Austin FC) remains in Austin for the second-consecutive season. FC Dallas and Houston finished tied on five points in the Copa Tejas table while Austin earned six points.
THE FOURTH 0-0 RESULT BETWEEN BOTH SIDES
FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo played to a 0-0 draw tonight, marking the fourth such outcome in the history of their club matchups in MLS action. They previously played to scoreless draws on August 22, 2020, May 29, 2017, and June 30, 2007.
ROAD WARRIORS
FC Dallas has earned points in its last three road games over a 10-day span. Dallas secured a 3-1 victory at Real Salt Lake on September 20 and managed to secure a 1-1 draw in Philadelphia on September 27. Tonight, FC Dallas played to a scoreless 0-0 draw in Houston.
CLEAN SHEET NUMBER 7
FC Dallas' goalkeeper Maarten Paes has maintained his strong form, notching his seventh clean sheet of the season. Paes registered five saves against Houston.
UNDEFEATED IN SEPTEMBER
FC Dallas remained undefeated throughout September, recording five draws and one win. Dallas secured three draws at home against Atlanta United (2-2) on Sept. 2, against the Seattle Sounders (1-1) on Sept. 16 and against the Columbus Crew (1-1) on Sept. 23. Away from Toyota Stadium, Dallas beat Real Salt Lake (3-1) on Sept. 20 and recorded two draws: in Philadelphia (1-1) and in Houston (1-1) on Sept. 27 and Sept. 30, respectively.
UP NEXTFC Dallas will play its penultimate home game of the regular season when it welcomes the Colorado Rapids to Toyota Stadium next Wednesday, October 4. The match kicks off at 7:30 PM CT on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, the FC Dallas app, Talk Radio 1190 AM and TUDN 1270 AM.
Lineups
FC Dallas — Maarten Paes; Marco Farfan, Nkosi Tafari, Ema Twumasi, Sebastien Ibeagha, Sam Junqua; Facundo Quignón (Paxton Pomykal – 65’), Asier Illarramendi; Paul Arriola (Liam Fraser – 80’), Jesús Ferreira (Jesús Jiménez – 90’+3’), Alan Velasco (Jáder Obrian – 80’).
Substitutes not used — Jimmy Maurer, José Martínez, Dante Sealy, Amet Korça, Bernard Kamungo.
Houston Dynamo FC — Steve Clark; Teenage Hadebe, Micael, Erik Sviatchenko (Ethan Bartlow – 81’), Franco Escobar; Brad Smith (Nelson Quiñónes – 58’), Héctor Herrera, Artur; Amine Bassi, Corey Baird (Aliyu Ibrahim –87’), Franco Escobar (Adalberto Carrasquilla – 58’).
Substitutes not used — Andrew Tarbell, Daniel Steres, Sebastian Kowalczyk, Thorleifur Úlfarsson, Sebastian Kowalczyk, Brooklyn Raines.
Scoring Summary: None
Misconduct Summary:
HOU: Teenage Hadebe (caution) – 8’
HOU: Franco Escobar (caution) – 29’
DAL: Nkosi Tafari (caution) – 41’
HOU: Adalberto Carrasquilla (caution) – 70’
HOU: Hector Herrera (caution) – 84’
Weather: Sunny, 89ºF
Attendance: 18,175
POSTGAME QUOTES FC DALLAS
Head Coach Nico Estévez
On the team’s performance…
“We had some difficulties building pressure from the beginning. We adjusted well at half time, we put Alan (Velasco) and Jesús (Ferreira ) closer to each other and dropped Paul (Arriola) so we could keep releasing Sam Junqua in the weak side pocket. With those adjustments, I felt like we were able to press better. In the first half we had long sequences of possession, from switching the field and creating good tempo. We were able to create chances on them with crosses and chances like the couple times Ema got in the box and the Marco chance as well. Some of those transitions, we rushed the last pass. In the second half we were stable defensively. We had good moments in transition that would have led to more, but we could not get the final pass on points like I mentioned earlier. We rushed, the passing was not good, and I don’t think we were clean overall. Near the end of the game, Paxton (Pomykal) had a chance to put the game away. Overall I feel like it’s a fair tie.”
On going unbeaten throughout September…
“In those draws, there were a lot of games where we deserved to win. If you look at our last road match in Philadelphia, we had a goal that was disallowed, and we had a lot of chances. In the home game against Atlanta, we had multiple chances which we could have capitalized in. Overall, we deserve a better outcome in some of these games. In other, we play very good teams away from home, but the team competes, and we were great on the defensive side. We just need to score and capitalize those chances that we are creating.”
On facing Colorado at home midweek…
“The goal for this team is to play in the playoffs. It’s our goal that we set from the beginning of the season. Having strong mentalities like how we showed in the last two road games can help us heading into the final stretch. It also increases the distance from team’s who drop points in their games. We have two final home games with our fans, we need to speed it up and get six points from the two remaining matches. We want to get ourselves in the clinched positions for the playoffs.”
Defender Sam Junqua
On the team’s game plan…
“There were a few things we had to adjust along the way but in general it was to keep things narrow and not let them combine through the middle, which they do well. I think we were good with that. We would’ve liked to have attacked a little ,ore aggressively and we made some changes to do that. Overall, it’s a good result and we had chances to score as well.”
On the importance of the upcoming home matches…
“The idea was the better we do against Philly and Houston in away games, it takes the pressure off the last three games. Getting a point in each of those weren’t bad results and they took a little pressure off the last few games. But in the end, the home games are going to be key for us.”
Midfielder Paul Arriola
On the formation…
“We thought we played really well in Philadelphia using a back five formation. We kind of expected them to come out in a back five formation which is the way they build in the attack for them is with three in the back. This is the FC Dallas that we know right? Transition and hold them when we need to, press them when we need to. You know we had a few chances that I think were pretty clear for us. You know obviously we'd love to have the ball a little bit more, but in the end it was always going to be this type of game.
On obtaining a point in Houston…
“Houston has a lot of quality players. We definitely respect that. We will do our best to continue to build on tonight. It's a point and it's vital. There are a few games left, so we'll take the point and get ready for Wednesday.”
On the final two home matches of the regular season…
“We have to win at home on Wednesday and Saturday. For us, they're going to be must win games. It's very clear for us that if we want to be in the playoffs, we're going to have to beat Colorado and San Jose.”
