FC Dallas had a lot to celebrate this July 4th. (Photo Credit: Olivia Brestal)
The home side were a little sloppy in possession during the opening few minutes of the game, but the hustle to win the ball back led to a corner in the 10th minute. Maximiliano Urruti applied the pressure that lead to Tommy Redding playing the ball over the end line for a corner. Mauro Diaz curled the corner into a dangerous area and an unmarked Walker Zimmerman hit the ball first time on the half volley beyond a stretching Joe Bendik.
Zimmerman celebrates the opener. (Photo credit: Olivia Brestal)
Brek Shea, who started his career and had five seasons with FC Dallas, was met with a nice welcome back slide tackle from Barrios in the 28th minute, which earned Barrios a yellow card. Dallas kept up their relentless pressure after the water break in the 30th minute, with several missed chances and two shots on goal. Orlando’s keeper Bendik was quick to prevent the third goal in the 40th minute when he smothered the ball at Fabian Castillo’s feet having been played in behind by Kellyn Acosta’s through ball.
Orlando City head coach, Wade Barrett, substituted Kaká at the beginning of the second half because of an injury that the player was carrying into the match. FC Dallas picked right up where they left off after kick off and Urruti had a great chance to get his first MLS goal since March 26th. Diaz played a beautiful ball over the top. Urruti took a great first touch but fired well over as Bednick was quick to close the distance and force the shot.
Fantastic slide by Kevin Alston in the 57th minute to prevent Carlos Gruezo from going in clear on Bendik. The resulting corner Zimmerman was again unmarked and had a free header that was saved at pointblank range by the Orlando keeper.
FC Dallas had their third only a few minutes later. Barrios won the free kick on the right side of goal and Diaz delivered his ninth assist of the season directly onto the head of Matt Hedges for the easy header.
Diaz gets a hug for serving the ball on a platter for Hedges. (Photo credit: Olivia Brestal)
In the second minute of stoppage time, Fabian Castillo got his fifth goal of the season. Tesho timed his run perfectly and ran onto a great pass from Acosta. With only Bendik to beat, Tesho unselfishly passed to the wide open Castillo to tap in the easy finish.
Men of the Match
Maximiliano Urruti. Mauro Diaz would have also been a solid choice, but Urruti was a relentless terror for the Orlando back line the entire game. Constantly winning balls or hurrying defenders into mistakes. He helped create several scoring chances and assisted on the second goal of the game. Urruti received deserved applause when he was subbed out of the game.
Joe Bendik. Yes, four goals were scored on him, but the man was left exposed by his team on so many occasions and made so many saves to prevent the scoreline from being any more embarrassing for Orlando City.
Lineups
Dallas (4-3-3, left to right): Chris Seitz – Manuel Figueroa, Matt Hedges, Walker Zimmerman, Atiba Harris – Kellyn Acosta, Mauro Diaz, Carlos Gruezo (Victor Ulloa 77′) – Fabian Castillo, Maximiliano Urruti (Carlos Lizarazo 83′), Michael Barrios (Tesho Akindele 70′)
Orlando (4-2-3-1, left to right): Joe Bendik – Luke Boden, David Mateos, Tommy Redding (Seb Hines 45′), Kevin Alston – Cristian Higuita, Darwin Cerén – Brek Shea, Kaká (Servando Carrasco 45′), Kevin Molino – Cyle Larin (Baptista 69′)
Fun match facts
- FC Dallas started the evening unbeaten at home in 14 games, the second time in franchise history they have achieved a streak of that length, and tonight’s win against Orlando City Soccer Club tonight is now the longest home unbeaten streak in franchise history.
- Before kickoff a rousing version of Deep in the Heart of Texas was played by the Lone Star Legion Brass Line and led by leaders of the Dallas Beer Guardians. It was a fun start to the night for the home crowd.
- Speaking of crowd…it was refreshing to see a huge, sellout crowd of 16,195 filling Toyota Stadium.
