When one thinks of FC Dallas one normally thinks of Fabian Castillo, Tesho Akindele, Mauro Diaz, or any number of high-scoring attack players. On Saturday it was Michael Barrios who provided the spark for Dallas. The Colombian put in two early goals giving FC Dallas the lead and helped the hoops to a 3-0 win against D.C. United at RFK Stadium.
With both Dallas and United missing key players, one migh have expected the first few minutes of the match to be a bit slow and unproductive. Instead, both sides had decent goal-scoring opportunities in the early minutes of the match. United nearly struck first in the fourth minute when forward Chris Rolfe laced a free kick into the Dallas box. Forward Fabian Espindola found the cross and hit a shot on target that was saved by goalkeeper Chris Seitz.
Despite D.C.’s early chance it was Dallas that would draw first. Dallas coach Oscar Pareja emphasized a plan of attack meant to expose D.C.’s weakness at center-back. With Steve Birnbaum out on National Team duty United coach Ben Olsen opted to give Kofi Opare the start.
Midfielders Michael Barrios and Mauro Diaz would nearly strike first in the 6th minute when Diaz would find Barrios making a run past Opare from the left corner. However, his shot would be wide.
United would not be so lucky in the 13th minute when Barrios would seize on another mistake by Opare and left-back Taylor Kemp to give Dallas the 1-0 advantage.
Barrios and Dallas would strike again in the 28th minute with Barrios making another daring run against Opare. He would catch Opare flat-footed and lift his shot past United goalkeeper Travis Worra for the 2-0 lead. The goal was Barrios’ brace gives him his first two goals of the season and nine all-time for FC Dallas.
“Yeah, Mikey is putting himself in great spots, and the last three games he had some options, and [was]always working hard,” said Dallas coach Oscar Pareja. “So I’m not surprised to see how the game rewarded him today, and [gave]him those two opportunities.”
Being down two goals, appeared to find a little bit of life late. Fueled by the efforts of Espindola and De Leon, who found cracks along the Dallas back four, D.C. appeared ready to cut Dallas’ lead in half. In the 36th minute, Kemp laid in a cross for De Leon whose volley looked promising but ultimately skimmed over the bar.
Espindola would have his own effort near injury time with a precarious run down the goal line of Dallas. However, credit to Dallas center-back Matt Hedges and Ryan Hollingshead for preventing Espindola having a clear goal-scoring chance. His shot may have been at goal but required little effort from Seitz.
The second half provided few highlights for Dallas and plenty of forgettable moments for D.C. Although D.C. were able to put together several convincing chances, they were unable to break down the stout Dallas defense. Seitz, who was starting in place of regular Jesse Gonzalez (Mexican under-23 Men’s National Team duty) kept together a patchwork Dallas defense using saves as an opportunity to organize.
Despite D.C.’s best efforts Dallas would score yet again to put the match out of reach. In the 52nd minute, forward Maximiliano Urruti would completely silence the 14,201 United supporters at RFK with a deft touch from the inside of his right foot. Urruti, who came to Dallas in the offseason from the Portland Timbers, peeled off of United center-back with his left shoulder and buried the Castillo cross.
D.C. had a chance to get one back after receiving what appeared to be a makeup penalty call after defender Sean Franklin was clipped by midfielder Victor Ulloa. But Espindola could not capitalize on the ensuing kick, hitting his shot directly at Seitz. A red card just five minutes later on midfielder Marcelo Sarvas, who took out his frustrations with a a clumsy elbow on Barrios, ended any hopes for D.C. in the match.
“It’s a good chance for us to take an early look at ourselves and get back to some hard work and training,” said D.C. United coach Ben Olsen. “But it’s early and we’re going to be fine. I believe in this group and I like what we’re about, and we’ll respond from this.”
For United a bit introspection and a long look at has gone wrong over the course of the regular season if they have any designs on competing in the Eastern Conference this season. They will look for their first win of the season next week when they travel to Avaya Stadium to take on San Jose Earthquakes (1030pm EST Newschannel 8, CSN- Bay Area, MLS Live).
For Dallas, this is their first win at RFK Stadium since 2010. Their next task is against another Eastern Conference side looking for their first win in the 2016 campaign: Columbus Crew SC. Dallas will host the Crew next Saturday at Toyota Park (9pm EST TWCSC-OH, CW Columbus, TX-21, MLS Live).
MATCH SUMMARY
D.C. United- Travis Worra, Sean Franklin, Kofi Opare, Bobby Boswell, Taylor Kemp, Patrick Nyarko (Miguel Aguilar 74′), Nick De Leon, Marcelo Sarvas, Fabian Espindola, Lamar Neagle (Luciano Acosta 81′), and Chris Rolfe (Jared Jeffrey 70′)
Yellow Cards-Sarvas (37′) and Rolfe (61′)
Red Card- Marcelo (67′)
F.C. Dallas- Chris Seitz, Aaron Guillen, Zach Loyd, Matt Hedges, Ryan Hollingshead, Fabian Castillo, Carlos Gruezo (Juan Esteban Ortiz 74′), Victor Ulloa, Michael Barrios (Mauro Rosales 74′), Mauro Diaz (Timor Pitter 81′), and Maximiliano Urruti
Goals- Barrios (14′ and 28′) and Urruti (52′)
Yellow Cards- Gruzeo (30′) and Barrios (60′)
ATTENDANCE: 14,201
