FC DALLAS vs TORONTO FC
TOYOTA STADIUM, Frisco, Texas
April 19, 2013 (WEEK 7, MLS Game #60)
7:30 p.m. CT (KTXI-CBS; SNet One)
MLS Free Stream of the Week
A pair of the early risers in the 2014 MLS season meet when FC Dallas play host to Toronto FC on Saturday evening at Toyota Stadium. FC Dallas suffered their first defeat of the young season last weekend, with Seattle Sounders FC coming back for a 3-2 victory in Frisco. Toronto FC suffered their first home loss of the new campaign, the Colorado Rapids claiming a 1-0 win on Saturday afternoon at BMO Field.
REFEREE: Jorge Gonzalez. AR1 (bench): Kevin Klinger; AR2 (opposite): Chris Strickland; 4th: Younes Marrakchi
MLS Career: 106 games; FC/gm: 25.2; Y/gm: 3.3; R: 35; pens: 27
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: none
DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (12 meetings): FC Dallas 6 wins, 17 goals … Toronto FC 1 win, 13 goals … Ties 5
AT DALLAS (6 meetings): FC Dallas 4 wins, 10 goals … Toronto FC 0 wins, 5 goals … Ties 2
LAST YEAR (MLS):
4/6: TOR 2, DAL 2 (Braun 85; Russell 90 – Jacobson 34; Perez 59)
- This is the only league meeting between the teams this season.
- In league play, FC Dallas have not lost to Toronto FC since 2007 – the first meeting ever between the clubs. FCD has won six of the 11 regular-season encounters since, with five draws, including a 4-0-2 record all-time in Frisco.
- The teams have played to draws over each of the last two seasons, their only two meetings. The last league win in the series came July 20, 2011, a 1-0 FC Dallas win at BMO Field.
- The teams met in a CONCACAF Champions League group stage in 2011, each winning on the other’s home ground. Toronto FC advanced to the knockout stage with a 3-0 final game win in Frisco.
- Coaches record: Oscar Pareja vs. TOR: P2 W1 L1 D0 … Ryan Nelsen vs. DAL: P1 W0 L0 D1
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas saw their season-opening undefeated streak come to an end after five games, Seattle Sounders FC coming back for a 3-2 win on Saturday evening at Toyota Stadium. FC Dallas sit atop the Western Conference with 13 points from 6 games.
LAST MATCH
- FC Dallas opened the scoring in the 10th minute. A deflected pass, a high bounce and some wind put Sounders FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei in trouble, and the ball went off his fingertips and landed behind him for David Texeira to tap into an empty net.
- The visitors were level in the 22nd minute. Clint Dempsey stepped up to a 35-yard free kick and bent it over the wall, off the underside of the crossbar and just over the goal line. The ball then spun back into play, and Obafemi Martins headed in the rebound to make sure, but Dempsey was credited with the goal.
- FCD nosed back in front five minutes before halftime when Texeira was fouled in the penalty area by DeAndre Yedlin and referee Juan Guzman pointed to the spot. Michel converted the penalty kick, his second in as many weeks.
- Seattle were level again in the 75th minute. Substitute Marco Pappa sent in a curling ball from the left that was headed only to the far side of the penalty area, from where Dempsey fired a cross that deflected off defender Stephen Keel and into the net behind helpless Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz.
- The game-winner came 10 minutes later. Racing for the return pass off a one-two with Chad Barrett, Dempsey one-timed the ball into the top of the net to give Seattle the victory.
- FCD head coach Oscar Pareja made no changes to the team rolled to a 4-1 win against the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium.
- FC DALLAS (4-2-3-1): Chris Seitz - Zach Loyd, Stephen Keel, Matt Hedges, Jair Benitez - Hendry Thomas, Michel - Je-Vaughn Watson (Peter Luccin 70 / Adam Moffat 79), Mauro Diaz, Fabian Castillo - David Texeira (Tesho Akindele 86).
TEAM NEWS
- FC Dallas saw their season-opening five-game undefeated streak come to an end in the loss to Seattle. It’s the second consecutive year FCD has been 4-1-1 after 6 games; a year ago they finished 11-12-11 after an 8-2-3 start.
- “This team is very strong. We’re building. We won against Portland and Houston, Montreal, tied with Kansas City. The first half today we were up 2-1,” said FCD head coach Oscar Pareja. “So, no, this team isn’t going to fall. Now is a great time to keep learning. We have a very strong group, and I’m behind these guys 300 percent. I’m very proud of this team.”
- Said goalkeeper Chris Seitz: “We use this as a learning experience. We’ve taken it one week at a time. We’ve scouted our opponents each week and focused on that game. That is how it is going to continue to go. We’re not going to look ahead to different games. We have a big test at home next week against a very good team.”
- FC Dallas leads all of Major League Soccer with 15 goals scored, three more than the next nearest club (Seattle). Their 10 goal conceded is one off the most allowed in MLS this season (Chivas USA, Portland, 11 each).
- “There will always be opportunities that you finish and ones that you do not. You have to look at what is coming, not at what you were not able to convert,” said midfielder Fabian Castillo. “That’s how the game is, we tried to push forward, we did create some opportunities in the second half, but Seattle was better at finishing their chances.”
- Michel scored his third goal of the season, his second in as many games, both of them coming on penalty kicks. He has scored five goals in his last 14 MLS games, dating back to last season.
- Making his second consecutive start, David Texeira scored his first MLS goal. He had come on as a substitute in his first three MLS appearances; his 87-minute shift was his longest with FCD.
- “It was great for David to score. Great for us to have him involved in the goals and have him contribute with his effort, his tactical discipline, the way he fights for the concepts and his teammates. He had a great game,” said Pareja.
- Rookie Tesho Akindele made his full professional debut, coming off the substitutes’ bench for the final four minutes. “We have a very strong group but I could have helped them more in the second half,” Pareja said. “We tried a couple of options off the bench. But really it comes down to me; I didn’t play as well as they did.”
TORONTO FC
Toronto FC lost on their home ground for the first time this season, falling 2-0 to the Colorado Rapids on Saturday afternoon at BMO Field. TFC sit in second place in the Eastern Conference, with 9 points from 5 matches.
LAST MATCH
- The game's lone goal came in the 77th minute. A quick series of passes saw Dillon Serna switch the play to Dillon Powers, who then found Edson Buddle with a well-placed pass though he was surrounded by Toronto FC defenders. Buddle was able to get the ball through for an easy tap-in goal past Julio Cesar.
- Rapids goalkeeper Clint Irwin made four saves as his club claimed a point for the first time ever in Toronto in seven trips.
- TFC head coach Ryan Nelsen made three changes to the team that came away with a 2-0 victory against the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium. Steven Caldwell came into the back four for Nick Hagglund, and Jeremy Hall and Issey Nakajima-Farran started in midfield in place of Michael Bradley and Alvaro Rey.
- TORONTO FC (4-4-2): Julio Cesar - Mark Bloom (Jordan Hamilton 90), Bradley Orr, Steven Caldwell, Justin Morrow - Jackson, Jeremy Hall, Kyle Bekker, Issey Nakajima-Farran - Dwayne De Rosario (Andrew Wiedeman 67), Gilberto.
TEAM NEWS
- Toronto FC were shut out for the second time in the last three matches, losing for the first time in two games at BMO Field this season.
- “We knew it was going to be a game where probably one goal was going to settle it,” TFC head coach Ryan Nelsen said. “Whether it was a mistake or a little lack of concentration or something. ... I thought there was only one team that was going to win that game. The cruelty of football, isn’t it, when you hit the post and 30 seconds later they score on the other hand.”
- Toronto FC were missing a pair of Designated Players in both Michael Bradley and Jermain Defoe to injury. Defoe was missing his second consecutive match, while Bradley missed his first after being forced off late in the 2-0 win vs. Columbus.
- “Obviously anyone is going to miss them but I think the lads that stepped in did really well today. The result might mask that a little bit, but if it would have went the other way nobody would have been talking about it,” said defender Bradley Orr. “Listen, anyone is going to miss that caliber of players of course. But credit to the lads that stepped in – I thought they did a good job.”
- Said Nelsen of Bradley: “I hope he will be fit for [this] week but if he were to play [vs. Colorado], there would be a great chance that he would be out for several weeks, months.”
- The injury crisis grew even deeper when Dwayne De Rosario was forced off injured at the three-quarter mark of the game and will miss the FC Dallas match. “Hopefully the other teams now, they catch our bug and we get to play them with a few down,” Nelsen said.
- Issey Nakajima-Farran made his first start in MLS and for TFC, as Alvaro Rey also missed the Columbus match through injury.
- “We’ve got a couple weeks break after that game,” Nelsen said. “We’ve really got to knuckle down. It’s a really important time just to get everybody back fit. We’ve got four home games out of five after Dallas so we want everybody fit for that little segment there.”
- Kyle Bekker also made his second consecutive start in the center of midfield. “I thought he was brilliant today and one of our standout players. He is showing a high level of maturity which has been showing through his hard work,” Nelsen said.
