FRISCO — Mauro Diaz made the most out of his return to the starting lineup Saturday afternoon, assisting on all three of FC Dallas’ goals against the LA Galaxy. The three assists tied a club record, and only two other players in FC Dallas history have recorded the same feat. Michael Barrios was the last player to bag three assists on June 3, 2017.
“I’m really happy personally for the assists, and even happier for the three points,” Diaz said. “I think that when you get to play you need to show that you’re ready for it and when you don’t you need to support your teammates from aside. So, great today, really happy to return to playing as a starter.”
Diaz recorded his first two assists in the first half and helped open up the scoring after completing a short pass to Maxi Urruti in the 28th minute. Urruti curved the ball to the keeper’s left side which put Dallas up 1-0.
On the brink of halftime, Diaz slotted a pass in between two Galaxy defenders for Roland Lamah, who managed to slip behind the Galaxy back line to increase the lead to 2-0.
Dallas’ final goal came in the 52nd minute after Diaz crossed the ball into the box to connect with Lamah’s head. Diaz’s final assist increased the Dallas lead to 3-1, and it would end up being the deciding factor in a 3-2 win over the Galaxy.
“I think that the team showed a lot of fight and the game was slow and heavy for some bits,” Diaz said. “Today we converted the chances that in other games we had let go in the past. I think that we finished well and that’s why we got the three points.”
Sunday marked the first time Diaz was in the starting lineup since April 7. Diaz had been on the bench for the past four games and will look to continue his impressive return in exactly a week when FC Dallas takes on the Vancouver Whitecaps at Toyota Stadium.
