The arm in the corner of this picture cannot hide the ballboy’s excitement about the game winner in extra time. Sadly, the arm also cannot hide the large number of empty seats at Toyota Stadium. (Photo credit: Olivia Brestal)
Open Cup: Dallas defeats Rapids 2-1 in extra time
by Marc Boehme
Goals from Mauro Diaz and Maximiliano Urruti overcame an opener by Colorado’s Dominique Badji as FC Dallas progressed to a the next round of the US Open Cup.
It was a sparse crowd in Frisco tonight for an entertaining US Open Cup match between FC Dallas and Colorado Rapids.
This game was a roster depth check for two of the top performing teams in MLS. Oscar Pareja did not make a lot of roster changes for the match although he was definitely missing two defensive players through injury in Zach Loyd and Ryan Hollingshead.
Things got a little tense in the 15th minute when Agustin Jara made an overzealous foul on Dillon Serna which earned Jara a yellow card. Jared Watts did not appreciate the play and shoved Jara in the back resulting in a yellow card for Watts as well.
Unfortunately, that was the end of the match for Serna as he was subbed out of the game and replaced by Marlon Hairston in the 21st minute.
Dominique Badji, who had set up an earlier scoring chance for Colorado, scored in the 38th minute on a cross from substitute Hairston (who it has to be said had the best hair in the match this evening).
FC Dallas were finding themselves in good positions for scoring chances but were not finding many shots on frame that troubled Zac MacMath.
Only seven minutes into the second half, Oscar Pareja decided to replace Carlos Lizarazo for the more experienced Michael Barrios.
Mauro Diaz tied up the game in the 65th minute after Fabian Castillo dribbled past two defenders – or rather made two defenders run into each other as he dribbled the ball past them – and found himself one on one with the keeper. When MacMath came out to challenge, Castillo crossed the ball to Diaz who held off his defender to tap the ball in from six yards out.
Castillo celebrates providing the run and assist to create the goal. (Photo credit: Olivia Brestal)
Both managers were going for the win in regular time as Maximiliano Urruti came on in the 77th minute for Dallas and Kevin Doyle came on for Colorado in the 82nd minute. No winner was to be found by the end of regulation.
Thankfully for FC Dallas, Urruti scored what would be the game winning goal in the 96th minute. He received the ball outside of the box and dribbled toward the right side of goal. Working some room on the right as he dribbled forward in the box it appeared that he had no angle to shoot from. His shot, which according to the beer garden patrons would have been saved by Tim Howard, went low past MacMath’s feet near post and in off the inside of the post.
There were a decent number of fans to celebrate the victory. (Photo credit: Olivia Brestal)
FC Dallas played well and had several good chances to increase their lead over the remaining minutes of extra time, including an Urruti shot off the crossbar in the 112th minute. Things started getting a little bit chippier in the final several minutes, but head referee, Ismail Elfath, did a reasonable job keeping control of the match.
Now FC Dallas face a dramatic return to Houston, where FC Dallas lost 5-0 to Houston Dynamo at the beginning of this season, for the US Open Cup quarterfinal match on July 20th. When asked about facing the Houston Dynamo again in Houston, Pareja stated
“It’s a great opportunity…especially at this stage where we have an opportunity to get to the semifinal. Houston gave us a lesson early this year. Hopefully we can learn the lesson. We have to take advantage of the opportunities that this game gave us…We are going to prepare well. It’s a great rivalry and we will take this game seriously.”
Lineups:
Dallas (4-2-3-1, left to right): Jesse Gonzalez – Agustin Jara, Matt Hedges, Walker Zimmerman, Atiba Harris – Juan Esteban Ortiz (Victor Ulloa 59′), Kellyn Acosta – Fabian Castillo, Mauro Diaz, Carlos Lizarazo (Michael Barrios 52′) – Tesho Akindele (Maxi Urruti 77′)
Colorado (4-2-3-1, left to right): Zac MacMath – Marc Burch, Mekeil Williams, Jared Watts, Dennis Castillo – Micheal Azira, Dillon Powers – Dillon Serna (Marlon Hairston 22′), Marco Pappa (Kevin Doyle 83′), Dominique Badji (Conor Doyle 106′) – Luis Solignac
FC Dallas
US Open Cup
