Season Saving Win? FC Dallas Trounces Houston at Home

With the help of a red card, FC Dallas broke open the scoring gates with a delicious finish by Petar Musa and rare Ibeagha goal to get a huge win.

Sports writers like to frame certain results in larger-than-life terms, but not getting 3 points since the opening match of the season, FC Dallas needed a big result to turn their season around. A loss at home would have increased the temperature under Nico Estevez and placed even more pressure on a team that has been struggling. Dallas needed a jolt of energy, a twist of fate, a result to start over and build from.

Tonight, against the Houston Dynamo, FC Dallas may have found it.

A long ball to Marco Farfan created the kind of twist that Dallas needed, as Houston defender Griffin Dorsey earned a red card in the eighth minute.

While FC Dallas struggled to break down Houston’s stout defense in the first 45 minutes, substitutions in the second half, including Bernard Kamungo and the return of Jesus Ferreira, led to two delicious goals, one of which was a stunning classy finish from Petar Musa. Sebastian Ibeagha added a second, a rare sight but one that put the result out of doubt.

Credit also a solid defensive performance that snuffed out the few attacking runs the Dynamo pulled off.

The final whistle blew, and the tension and frustration of the entire disappeared on Texas winds.

All in all, there is much positive to pull from this performance.

Marco Farfan got the start and showed how much the team has missed his ability, and Jesus Ferreira came back onto the field to dazzle. In limited minutes, Jesus showed what the team was missing with his absence. He and Musa should make a formidable force as Jesus continues to get back to match fitness.

But it’s also a reminder of how dangerous this team can be when healthy and how much better they can potentially play.

Nico spoke about the negativity the team had been feeling after the match.

“It was important to win, but the way we did it - I think we provoked that red card. We were going vertical. Marco Farfan’s run showed that. The only way to stop him was to foul him,” Nico acknowledged. “The first goal is always the most difficult against a team with ten men. We created that goal with the sub we did, with Bernard coming in. Petar, when he receives those kinds of balls, he can score.”

Of course, the work only continues for the team as they prepare to travel to face Toronto, a resurgent side that will not give Dallas anything.

“Tomorrow is not a day off. We work and we train. I am really happy for all the players and the staff who have been working really really hard these last weeks. We have to now keep going and keep moving forward. Use this game as confidence to try to win against Toronto,” Nico said to media.

But in an interesting shift, the head coach did not want to suggest a reset on the season. It might be tempting to want to forget about the poor start and the struggles that have characterized life in Frisco, but such would be a mistake.

“I want to carry this pain that we have suffered. I think this pain that we have suffered, not winning, I want to keep it inside of me. I don’t want to reset anything,” Nico said to Afterburn Soccer after the match. “Good teams are built through bad times. I want to have that pain in here the whole season, so when we arrive at the end of the season, we can feel proud of what we have done this season. We embrace that we didn’t do well. We learn from that.”

But for now, it feels like a new season for this team and its fans.