FRISCO, Texas (Wednesday, July 13) – FC Dallas (16-8-8, 56 points) beat the LA Galaxy on Saturday night, 1-0, in front of a sold-out crowd at Toyota Stadium to re-gain a 5 point lead on the top spot in Major League Soccer.
FC Dallas nearly got on the board in the second minute of the match when Carlos Gruezo sent the ball out to the right flank for Michael Barrios. The Colombian winger brought the ball down and sent a short pass inside the area to Plano native Kellyn Acosta. The Homegrown midfielder took a first-touch shot that whistled just over the bar, catching the top of the net on its way over the endline.
LA answered in the fifth minute when Robbie Keane brought down a cross in the area and had a point-blank look at goal. FC Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz stood his ground and made his first save of the evening by punching the hard shot back into play.
FC Dallas got caught on the counterattack in the 18th minute of the match. A three on two break for LA left Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard open at the back post with only Seitz to beat but the goalkeeper forced the midfielder to push his shot wide of the far post, keeping the score level.
Mauro Diaz earned a free kick for Dallas, 30 yards from goal in the 25th minute. The Argentine playmaker lofted a pass to the center of the area, where Walker Zimmerman rose above the pack to head a shot just wide of the post to LA goalkeeper Brian Rowe’s right side.
Maxi Urruti rattled the woodwork behind Rowe in the 36th minute. Acosta worked his way through the middle of the area before finding the FC Dallas forward open on the left side of the area. Urruti assessed his options before ripping a curling shot that rang off the back post.
Three minutes later Zimmerman and Diaz connected again on a FC Dallas corner kick to give a 1-0 lead. The defender netted his fourth goal of the season after beating his man to the serve and nodding a textbook shot down into the pitch. The ball popped back up into the top of the net, just inside the post to Rowe’s right to give FCD an advantage in the 39th minute. Including Dallas’ 2-1 win against LA in the U.S. Open Cup Semifinal on Aug. 10, the goal was the third scored by Dallas on a corner kick against the Galaxy.
Zimmerman nearly connected with Urruti on a 80 yard pass in the 78th minute. The long line-drive pass skipped over the head of Galaxy defender Jelle Van Damme and Urruti beat Rowe to the ball and chipped a pass to himself over the goalkeeper’s head only to have LA defender Robbie Rogers recover and clear the ball away from danger.
Scoring Summary:
DAL – Walker Zimmerman (Mauro Diaz) 39
FC Dallas – Chris Seitz, Maynor Figueroa, Walker Zimmerman, Matt Hedges, Atiba Harris, Carlos Gruezo, Kellyn Acosta, Tesho (Victor Ulloa 84), Mauro Diaz, Michael Barrios (Ryan Hollingshead 67), Mauro Diaz.
Substitutes Not Used: Jesse Gonzalez, Norberto Paparatto, Getterson, Mauro Rosales, Carlos Ruiz.
LA Galaxy – Brian Rowe, Ashley Cole, Robbie Rogers, AJ De La Garza (Alan Gordon 78), Jelle Van Damme, Steven Gerrard (Emmanuel Boateng 69), Sebastian Lletget, Jeff Larentowicz, Raul Mendiola (Landon Donovan 57), Robbie Keane, Gio Dos Santos.
Substitutes Not Used: Dan Kennedy, Baggio Husidic, Rafael Garcia , Daniel Steres.
Misconduct Summary:
LA – AJ De La Garza (caution) 13
DAL – Kellyn Acosta (caution) 71
Referee: Drew Fischer
AR1 (bench): Jeremy Hanson; AR2 (opposite): Jeff Hosking; 4th: David Gantar.
Weather: Clear, 76
