A pair of clubs riding streaks headed in opposite directions meet when FC Dallas entertain D.C. United on Saturday evening in Frisco. Western Conference-leading FCD extended its unbeaten streak to eight games at midweek, coming back for a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers. D.C. United meanwhile matched their club record with a sixth consecutive defeat, falling 4-0 at home to the Houston Dynamo.
REFEREE: Matthew Foerster. AR1 (bench): Eric Boria; AR2 (opposite): Brian Poeschel; 4th: Alejandro Mariscal
MLS Career: 10 games; FC/gm: 23.9; Y/gm: 3.8; R: 0; pens: 3
DISABLED LIST: none
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (39 meetings): FC Dallas 17 wins (4 shootout), 65 goals Ö United 14 wins (0 shootout), 69 goals Ö Ties 8
AT DALLAS (21 meetings): FC Dallas 12 wins (2 shootout), 37 goals Ö United 6 wins (0 shootout), 26 goals Ö Ties 3
LAST YEAR (MLS)
3/30: DC 4, DAL 1 (Santos 28, 73; DeLeon 60; Cruz 66 ñ Perez 41)
- This is the only meeting of the season between the two clubs.
- D.C. United last won in Frisco on Sept. 1, 2007, a 4-0 victory. FC Dallas have won two of their four home meetings since, with two draws.
- D.C. United won the only meeting a season ago, a 4-1 victory March 30 at RFK Stadium. The teams played to two scoreless draws in two meetings in 2011.
- Coaches record: Schellas Hyndman vs. DC: P9 W3 L2 D4 Ö Ben Olsen vs. DAL: P4 W1 L1 D2
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas play their second home game this weekend after having extended their undefeated streak to eight games at midweek, coming back for a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers in Frisco. FCD sit atop the Western Conference with 21 points from 10 matches.
LAST MATCH
- The Timbers finally broke the deadlock in the 70th minute. Second-half substitute Rodney Wallace sent a cross from the left side of the box and found Darlington Nagbe at the far post, and he coolly volleyed the ball into the net for the opener.
- But FC Dallas equalized seven minutes later when Portland center back Andrew Jean-Baptiste was whistled for dragging down Blas PÈrez in the box, and referee Juan Guzman pointed to the spot. Kenny Cooper converted the penalty kick past goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts to preserve the draw.
- FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman made three changes to the team that reached a 2-2 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps FC at BC Place. London Woodberry came into central defense for George John, Je-Vaughn Watson started in midfield for Andrew Jacobson, and Fabian Castillo came into the side for the suspended Jackson.
- FC DALLAS (4-2-3-1): Raul Fernandez - Zach Loyd, London Woodberry, Matt Hedges, Jair Benitez - Je-Vaughn Watson, Michel (Bobby Warshaw 71) - Kenny Cooper, David Ferreira (Eric Hassli 53), Fabian Castillo - Blas Perez.
TEAM NEWS
- FC Dallas extended their undefeated run to eight games, the longest since going nine games without a defeat from April 23-June 4, 2011. The club record is 19 games without a loss, set during the 2010 season.
- "It was a really wide open game. I thought both teams came in not at their best. Both teams were missing some players," said FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman. "... For us to be down 1-0 and to dig in and come back and get a PK and walk away with a point, I'm very happy with (that result)."
- With George John out injured with a knee strain, rookie London Woodberry made his first MLS start, at center back. The FCD central defense partnership of Woodberry and Matt Hedges came into the game with 40 career league appearances.
- "London Woodberry had his first start and I thought for a rookie player, he did very well against a very athletic, good team," Hyndman said. "He played against two very good strikers, very athletic strikers [in Darlington Nagbe and FrÈdÈric Piquionne]. I don't know if there are much better strikers in the league. So, this was a big night for him and I'm really happy for him."
- Said Hedges: "It's never easy getting your first start, especially against a team like Portland with those three guys coming at you up top. I think he handled it well. He was pretty good right off the bat and got stronger as the game went on."
- With Jackson suspended, Fabian Castillo made his first start since March 30, coming into a wide midfield role. Je-Vaughn Watson also made his first start since the season opener, coming into a deep-lying midfield spot in place of Andrew Jacobson, out with a hamstring strain.
- "I was really concerned not having (Andrew Jacobson) in the center of the field. I was really concerned not having George (John) in the back and I was really concerned not having Jackson in the attack. That was my concern going into the game," said Hyndman. "Ö At the end of the game, we had five players on the field who don't normally play that much. Fabian (Castillo) went the full 90. Je-Vaughn (Watson) went the full 90. Eric (Hassli) came on probably with a good 35 minutes when David (Ferreira) got hurt."
- After playing every minute of the first nine matches, Ferreira came off after 53 minutes. Eric H‰ssli came on in his place, making his longest outing since coming to FC Dallas.
- "As a precaution, we wanted to make sure he stays healthy, and quite honestly, when you have a player like Eric Hassli coming in, he caused them a lot of problems," said Hyndman. "Eric and Blas were very good tonight: combining, intelligence, working with each other. In the last few minutes of the game, (Donovan) Ricketts made a very good save. Those are strikers laying balls off to strikers. This is David's team and the team plays better with him. He dictates the game. But I thought our guys were prepared to go (without him)."
D.C. UNITED
D.C. United saw their losing streak extended to six games on a dismal night, falling 4-0 to the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday evening at RFK Stadium. United are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference with 4 points from 9 matches.
LAST MATCH
- The Dynamo opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Will Bruin settled a ball from Boniek Garcia, beat United defender Dejan Jakovic and then chipped it neatly over United goalkeeper Bill Hamid from the heart of the penalty area.
- Twelve minutes later Houston struck again, taking advantage of a United giveaway. Pressured in their own end, Jakovic passed the ball to Hamid in a tight space and United's goalkeeper cleared it directly to Bruin, who tapped it to a wide-open Giles Barnes for an uncontested finish.
- Bruin scored his second of the match in the 78th minute when Brian Ching headed a Brad Davis free kick across the six for Bruin to hit first-time through Hamid's legs.
- The visitors completed the rout two minutes from time when Bruin played provider for a second time on the night, laying the ball off for Andrew Driver to thump home from inside the box.
- United head coach Ben Olsen made one change to the team that suffered a 3-0 loss to the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium. Rafael came in up top in place of Lionard Pajoy.
- D.C. UNITED (4-2-3-1): Bill Hamid - Chris Korb, Brandon McDonald, Dejan Jakovic, Daniel Woolard (Nick DeLeon 71) - Perry Kitchen, Raphael Augusto (Marcelo Saragosa 46) - Kyle Porter, Dwayne De Rosario, Marcos Sanchez (Lionard Pajoy 59) - Rafael Teixeira.
TEAM NEWS
- D.C. United have now matched their club record losing streak in MLS games, equaling the mark set Sept. 30, 2006-April 28, 2007. They have been outscored 15-3 during the six-game stretch.
- "We had some breakdowns ñ breakdowns that Houston capitalized on pretty easily. We're just giving teams goals. All of these teams aren't earning goals. They are saying, ësit back, counter, and they will make mistakes.' We have consistently done that," said United head coach Ben Olsen. "Once that happens, the game becomes an exercise in us trying to get one back and ultimately, if you don't get a break, it is probably going to come back the other way because you are taking chances. It's not a good recipe right now."
- United have also lost four consecutive games at RFK Stadium, also matching their club record in league games. D.C. lost four in a row at home Sept. 4-Oct. 13, 2010.
- "We can't give up two, three goals in the first half ñ especially at home. We work too hard on a lot of things last couple of weeks to come in and the momentum and the hype that we had going into the game and to just give away two goals just like that is frustrating," said Dwayne De Rosario. "I know I am speaking for a lot of the guys when I say it's frustrating and it's frustrating for the guys that are in the play giving up the goals. But, like I said, the response has to be better."
- Said midfielder Perry Kitchen: "Our fans don't deserve this. Our organization doesn't deserve this. Hopefully we can just get one win and that can turn into something, but you know at this point, tough game, tough stretch"
- United have now conceded a league-high 17 goals in their nine games, while scoring a league-low four goals. They have been shut out at the attacking end in six of nine games.
- Of United's 17 goals they have allowed, nine have come in the opening half-hour of matches ñ by far the most in MLS. They have allowed four goals in the opening 15 minutes, tied with New York for most in MLS.
- "We have to make some changes. We have some part-time players. I still don't get how it takes a coach to throw things and yell at you to now play with aggression and with the right spirit. It's mindboggling to me. I don't get it," said Olsen. "If that's what it takes to get you to play desperate and with high concentration, some guys are in trouble. Some of this has to come from within. It's confusing to me. I'll look to make some moves and try to make some adjustments. We're getting some injured guys back soon."
- Rafael made his first start in three matches as the spearhead in attack, since coming off at halftime of the home loss to New York on April 13.
- "I don't know if we rushed him. We said that about this time he would start to get some playing time. We have gotten him limited minutes and have given him enough chances to get his feet wet. I think he did some good things at times," said Olsen. "He didn't get enough shots off, but I thought he did OK. I'll have to look back. He's a physical presence and he holds the ball up well at times."
- Said De Rosario: "The switching in and out of forwards is difficult to build the rhythm and the chemistry. There's obviously the lack of communication. But I think he worked hard. I think he could have gotten himself in better areas. I think he could have maybe done a little better with one or two chances in the second half, maybe a little bit more aggressive to the goal."
