FRISCO, Texas (Saturday, July 27) – FC Dallas dropped a 1-0 decision to Stoke City FC in an exhibition tonight at FC Dallas Stadium.
FC Dallas had three quality scoring chances in the first 21 minutes of the match. The first two were shots on goal that were bent in from the right corner flag by the left-footed Brazilian defender, Michel. Stoke City FC goalkeeper Asmir Begovic punched both efforts off the line before making a block with his right knee to deny Kenny Cooper of a goal in the 21st minute. The play began with Jackson, who ran at a defender before slipping a shot inside the area for Fabian Castillo. Castillo opened the door for a shot from Cooper by allowing the ball to roll through his legs and continue on to the forward, who was behind him. Cooper struck the ball with his first touch to force the save from Begovic.
Against the run of play, Stoke City FC took a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute on a goal scored by Jonathan Walters. The Potters connected a few passes in their offensive third of the pitch when a partially deflected pass rebounded to the feet of Erick Pieters. The defender quickly pushed a pass inside to Walters, who turned, faked a shot and finished low to the left side of FC Dallas goalkeeper Raul Fernandez.
Stoke City looked poised to take a 2-0 lead when Cameron Jerome earned a penalty kick for the visitors in the 81st minute. Jerome took the kick and attempted to beat Chris Seitz, low to his right side but the goalkeeper came up with a diving, right-handed save to keep Dallas in the game.
Less than a minute later, FC Dallas gained a man advantage when Stoke’s Andy Wilkinson was shown a straight red card for a hard tackle on FC Dallas Homegrown player Danny Garcia.
After receiving some treatment on the sideline, Garcia returned to the match and earned Dallas’ best opportunity for an equalizer in stoppage time when he drew a foul 23 yards from goal. Ramon Nunez opted to take the free kick, bending a hard shot around the wall, but Stoke City goalkeeper Thomas Sorenson came across the goal line to make a spectacular save to preserve the shutout for the English Premier League side.
Scoring Summary:
SCFC – Jonathan Walters (Erik Pieters) 25
FC Dallas – Raul Fernandez (Chris Seitz 46), Michel (Mauro Diaz 31, Jonathan Top 59), Jackson (Zach Loyd 46), Stephen Keel, George John (London Woodberry 63), Kellyn Acosta, Jair Benitez (Danny Garcia 67), Je-Vaughn Watson (Victor Ulloa 70), David Ferreira (Ramon Nunez 46), Fabian Castillo (Bradlee Baladez 65), Kenny Cooper (Eric Hassli 46).
Substitutes Not Used: Matt Hedges, Kyle Zobeck.
TOTAL SHOTS: 21 (Ramon Nunez 5, Kenny Cooper, Michel, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Ramon Nunez 2); FOULS: 8 (Stephen Keel 2); OFFSIDES: 1 (Kellyn Acosta 1); CORNER KICKS: 7 (Michel 4, Mauro Diaz 2, Ramon Nunez 9); SAVES: 3 (Raul Fernandez 1, Chris Seitz 2).
Stoke City FC – Asmir Begovic (Thomas Sorenson 46), Erik Pieters (Andy Wilkinson 71), Robert Huth (Ryan Shotton 73), Glenn Whelan (Charlie Adam 46), Wilson Palacios (Marc Wilson 71) , Kenwyne Jones (Peter Crouch 46), Steven N’Zonzi (Michael Knightly 71), Ryan Shawcross, Jonathan Walters (Cameron Jerome 46), Geoff Cameron (Jordan Keane 89), Matthew Etherington (Marc Muniesa 46).
Substitutes Not Used: Florent Cuvelier.
TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Jonathan Walters 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (); FOULS: 14 (Wilson Palacios, Andy Wilkinson 2); OFFSIDES: 2 (Cameron Jerome 2); CORNER KICKS: 2 (Charlie Adam, Michael Knightly 1); SAVES: 4 (Asmir Begovic, Thomas Sorenson 2).
Misconduct Summary:
SCFC – Steven N’Zonzi (caution) 12
SCFC – Wilson Palacios (caution) 52
SCFC – Andy Wilkinson (caution) 82
SCFC – Charlie Adam (caution) 90+
Referee: Ted Unkel
Referee’s Assistants: Scott Kcahmarik, Jonathan Johnson
4th Official: Younes Marrakchi
Weather: Clear, 88 degrees
