FC Dallas aim to have their offense find the mark on Saturday when they host the Los Angeles Galaxy in Frisco, Texas.
FC Dallas (0-1-0, 0 points) dropped a 1-0 decision to Minnesota United FC last Saturday in the season opener for both teams. The setback snapped a 13-match unbeaten run (7-0-6) in season openers for FC Dallas, who held an 11-8 advantage in shots and 9-0 edge in corner kicks versus Minnesota.
“I think we lack a little bit on quality on the last third (versus Minnesota) and this is why we couldn’t score goals,” FC Dallas coach Nico Estevez said. “Sometimes it’s not like you have to play the perfect game. It’s just to have the right execution up top and we didn’t have (that).”
Maarten Paes made three saves in the season opener and had the same total in FC Dallas’ 1-0 victory over visiting Los Angeles on July 30. He denied Serbian international Dejan Joveljic on a penalty kick to make Franco Jara’s goal in the ninth minute stand up as the winning tally against the Galaxy.
Joveljic’s 11 goals last season were second only on the team to star Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, who finished with 18. Hernandez, however, announced during a live stream on Twitch that he will miss the next two-to-five weeks due to a hamstring injury, much to the chagrin of coach Greg Vanney.
“I think at the end of the day, players sometimes get out in front of it and want to let fans and other people know how they’re doing,” Vanney said. “But ultimately there is a way and a time and a place to give that, because it’s also about the opposition, game management, game prep, all those kinds of things.
“It’s not earth shattering in this situation, but in different circumstances these things could be very important information that you give to the other team or the opposition that you don’t necessarily want to be doing.”
Like Hernandez, his teammates also were idle last Saturday. The team’s much-anticipated El Trafico match against Los Angeles FC at the Rose Bowl was postponed due to heavy rain in the area.
–Field Level Media