FC Dallas will look to continue its success of stingy play at home when it hosts the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday in a Western Conference match at Frisco, Texas.
FC Dallas heads home after a rousing 1-0 win at rival Austin FC on Saturday when Jesus Ferreira scored in the 89th minute. Dallas (5-3-3, 18 points) won for only the second time in its past seven MLS games, with two ties over that stretch.
Ferreira leads Dallas with six goals this season and they have been the difference in 10 additional points for his team, more than any other player in MLS.
Goalkeeper Maarten Paes had to make just one save for Dallas in the victory over shorthanded Austin while recording his third shutout of the year and the 11th of his two-year MLS career.
“We are building towards the way we want to play and be at, and sometimes that can take long and is never easy.,” FC Dallas coach Nico Estevez said. “The guys have a strong mentality, and we can respond to any adversity we have in front of us.”
The Whitecaps hit the road following a 3-1 road loss to the Portland Timbers on Saturday. It was Vancouver’s first loss in league play since March 4, snapping an eight-match unbeaten streak.
Vancouver (3-3-5, 14 points) allowed two goals in the first 20 minutes to fall into a 2-0 hole. The Whitecaps’ only goal came when Julian Gressel’s cross in the 24th minute was deflected into the net by the Timbers’ Zac McGraw for on an own goal.
“We deserved to lose, fair and square,” Vancouver coach Vanni Sartini said after the loss. “Seventy minutes after the first horrible 20 minutes I would say we were kind of OK. All our mistakes arrived together so hopefully we can reset and go to Dallas and have a better performance.”
Vancouver has not lost in its last five games at FC Dallas, producing two wins and three draws over that period. But the Whitecaps are winless in 13 straight away matches dating back to a 2-0 win at Dallas last June.
That Vancouver win was also the most recent time that Dallas has allowed more than one goal at home. FCD has gone a club-record 15 straight home matches since that loss without surrendering more than a single goal.
–Field Level Media