Major League Soccer- Dallas FC beat Kansas City Wizards 1-0
Dallas defeated Kansas 1-0 in Major League Soccer; this was the 3rd win on the trot for Texas team, while a 2nd consecutive loss for Kansas City Wizards at the Pizza Hut Stadium.
The conditions were less than ideal for a football match, as it had been raining all day and the pitch was quite muddy, but regardless of the conditions, it was a very fiercely contested match with number of physical challenges going in from both teams. The Hoops’ problem has always been not being able to finish in front of goal, and not being able to maintain the same level of the game for long. However, for a change in this game they proved that they do have it in them to sustain the same intensity throughout the 90 minutes. Whenever Wizards tried to push Dallas back, the Texans came back at them with an attack of their own, which meant the match was hardly short of a dull moment. Probably the difference between a high scoring match and a 1-0 win was the form of both goalkeepers, who kept out number of good shots.
In the end, it was a Penalty that decided the match FCD. David Ferreira was the man who scored the only goal of the game, reaffirming how important he is to Dallas.
Dallas started the game being the dominant side, but their lion’s share of possession did not count for much as they did not mange to score in that initial period. Midfield especially was in great form for Dallas, there were number of through balls played but the front men could not make much use of them and it remained goal less. Wizards’ goalkeeper Jimmy Nielson was in scintillating form and saved number of shots from Dallas in that period of dominance.
Apart from Kansas keeper, the only other player making an impact was Jimmy Conrad, the experienced defender showed good composure and fended off the Dallas strikers with nonchalant ease.
The formation of 4-4-2 did not look to suit Kansas and they did not manage to test the opposition goalkeeper even once in the first half. Still they remained level as the first half ended.
The pace of the game did not change in the 2nd half, there was an ugly moment just 2 minutes into the 2nd half when Jack Jewsbury(Wizards) brought down Hernandez, soon after Marvin Chavez reacted by fouling Kamara from Kansas and got a yellow card for his troubles. The physical battle did not stop there and Kansas eventually had to pay a heavy price for it when Roger Ezpinoza tried to stop David Ferreira and brought him down in the box that resulted in the penalty kick.
But unlike Alonso(Spain) and Cardozo(Paraguay) Ferreira was successful with his penalty kick and gave Dallas a priceless lead.
The goal looked to have spurred Kansas on, and they began to play a lot better after conceding. Jewsbury and Suzi had couple of good attempts within minutes of the goal, but Dallas managed to hold on.
The substitutions made in the 2nd half looked to have been working for Kansas, as they continued to bombard the Dallas goal, but again without any success.
Dallas also made changes and Jeff Cunningham came on in place of Marvin Chavez and Jeff instantly made an impact on the game, he created some fabulous moves from the centre of the field by Kansas were up to it and kept Dallas out.
Another good substitution from Dallas was sending on Eric Avila for Brek Shea, Avila is a player who tried to conjure up an attack as soon as he gets hold of the ball, and he was in the thick of the action instantly. In the end, Dallas managed to hold on to the slender lead and got valuable 3 points.
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