FC Dallas return to league action when they play host to D.C. United on Saturday evening at Pizza Hut Park. FCD saw its three-game winning streak come to an end last weekend in a 2-0 loss at Real Salt Lake, though getting a measure of revenge in a defeat of RSL in a US Open Cup quarterfinal at midweek. United are coming off a big 1-0 victory at the New York Red Bulls last weekend.
REFEREE: Niko Bratsis. MLS Career: 5 games; FC/gm: 25.6; Y/gm: 3.2; R: 0; pens: 0
SAR (bench): Peter Manikowski; JAR (opposite): Craig Lowry; 4th: Ricardo Salazar
INJURY REPORT:
- FC DALLAS – OUT: DF Edson Edward (R knee ACL tear); MF David Ferreira (R ankle); FW Maykel Galindo (R hamstring strain); MF Andrew Jacobson (R hamstring); QUESTIONABLE: MF Daniel Hernandez (R knee)
- D.C. UNITED – OUT: MF Branko Boskovic (L ACL tear); MF Brandon Barklage (concussion); DF Devon McTavish (concussion); MF Santino Quaranta (concussion); FW Blake Brettschneider (concussion); DF Jed Zayner (L knee sprain); PROBABLE: DF Dejan Jakovic (L hamstring strain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: DAL: Fabian Castillo (Colombia U-20)
SUSPENDED: none
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: DAL: Jackson Goncalves, Brek Shea
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: DAL: Ugo Ihemelu, George John, Andrew Jacobson, Zach Loyd; DC: Fred
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- ALL-TIME (37 meetings): FC Dallas 17 wins (4 shootout), 64 goals ... United 13 wins (0 shootout), 65 goals ... Ties 7
- AT DALLAS (16 meetings): FC Dallas 12 wins (2 shootout), 37 goals ... United 6 wins (0 shootout), 26 goals ... Ties 2
- The teams played to a scoreless draw when they met for the first time this season, May 7 at RFK Stadium.
- FC Dallas won both league meetings a year ago, a 1-0 win at Pizza Hut Park in May and a 3-1 win at RFK Stadium in August. It was FCD’s first win in Washington since 2005.
- D.C. United last defeated FC Dallas May 2, 2009, three meetings ago.
- Coaches' records: Ben Olsen vs. DAL: P2 W0 L1 D1 ... Schellas Hyndman v DC: P7 W3 L1 D3
LAST MEETING
- 5/7: DC 0, DAL 0
- The game's best chance came in the closing stages. A low cross from Josh Wolff found Fred dangerously open in front of the net. But his header couldn't get the best of lunging FCD goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, who steered the shot aside.
- Hartman was credited with three saves in the FC Dallas goal, while Bill Hamid made two saves for United.
- D.C. UNITED (4-4-2): Bill Hamid - Perry Kitchen, Ethan White, Dejan Jakovic, Daniel Woolard - Andy Najar (Santino Quaranta 72), Dax McCarty, Stephen King, Chris Pontius (Fred 81) - Joseph Ngwenya (Josh Wolff 54), Charlie Davies.
- FC DALLAS (4-1-4-1): Kevin Hartman – Zach Loyd, George John, Ugo Ihemelu, Brek Shea - Daniel Hernandez - Marvin Chavez, Andrew Jacobson, Eric Avila (Ruben Luna 76), Fabian Castillo (Bobby Warshaw 90) - Milton Rodriguez (Eric Alexander 46).
D.C. UNITED
D.C. United took maximum points for the first time since May 29, coming away from Red Bull Arena with a 1-0 victory against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday evening. United have 22 points from 17 games on the year, sitting in a tie for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
LAST MATCH
- The game’s lone goal came in the 61st minute. Andy Najar played the ball square toward Dwayne De Rosario, who dummied the ball and raced into the box. Josh Wolff was behind the stepover and fed De Rosario on the run, and the recent United acquisition drove a left-footed shot off the far post and in against his former club.
- United coach Ben Olsen made no changes to the team that was pegged back by a late goal for a 2-2 draw with Philadelphia Union at RFK Stadium.
- D.C. UNITED (4-1-2-1-2): Bill Hamid - Perry Kitchen, Ethan White, Brandon McDonald, Daniel Woolard - Clyde Simms - Andy Najar, Chris Pontius (Fred 79) - Dwayne De Rosario - Charlie Davies (Blake Brettschneider 87), Josh Wolff (Joseph Ngwenya 74).
TEAM NEWS
- D.C. United snapped a string of three draws with the win in New York, but the Black-and-Red have lost just once since the start of May.
- “Every win right now is key, especially winning a 1-0 game for us right now is important because we have had some leads that we have squandered and tonight was a good effort,” said United boss Ben Olsen. “I thought we held the fort down. Offensively there was some pretty good stuff. We caught them on a day, they might have been a little leggy but that’s what you have to do in this league. When you find teams in certain situations you have to take advantage of.”
- Playing against the team that dealt him less than two weeks earlier, De Rosario scored his first United goal. He had contributed an assist in his United debut the week before.
- “The way he dictated that game was pretty impressive and it’s the reason why he is one of the best this league has ever seen,” Olsen said.
- De Rosario became the first player in MLS history to score for three different teams in a single season when he netted his first D.C. United goal in the win against New York. De Rosario scored one goal in two appearances for Toronto FC to start the season, then netted two in 13 games with New York, before scoring in his second game with United.
- "It’s never easy when you come back so quick to a team you played for,” De Rosario said. “Scoring against them felt great. ... it’s never easy when you transition, have everything turned out, in terms of getting moved last week and then playing them the week after. Everything works out the way it does for a reason.”
- United kept a clean sheet for the first time in more than a month, after allowing late equalizing goals in back-to-back games.
- “We were disciplined when we had to be. A lot of communication and there was a lot more communication on the field. When it came down to it, we were disciplined at the right times when we needed to be,” said Brandon McDonald.
- During the week, Canadian international Dejan Jakovic returned to full training. He has not appeared since May 29, injuring a knee in Canada’s buildup to the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
- “This is the first day he’s trained so we have to evaluate him this week,” Olsen said. “It’s good that he got through today.” Said Jakovic: “It’s just a fitness issue. I feel good, I’ve been running a lot, [and] we’ll see how it goes.”
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas saw their winning streak come to an end at three games, falling 2-0 to Real Salt Lake on Saturday evening at Rio Tinto Stadium. FCD has 34 points from 19 games on the season, in third place in the Western Conference.
LAST MATCH
- Real took the lead in the 47th minute through some unfamiliar circumstances. From a free kick, Andy Williams curled a weak effort up and over the ball, but FC Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman misjudged it, seeing the ball spin off his hands and trickle into the goal.
- RSL defender Chris Wingert cleared a ball off the line late, then Fabian Espindola capped the match in added time, taking a pass from Will Johnson after an interception and cutting inside the area before slotting a low shot past a diving Hartman.
- FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman made one change to the team that defeated the Columbus Crew 2-0 at Pizza Hut Park. Bobby Warshaw came into the side for Daniel Hernandez.
- FC DALLAS (4-5-1): Kevin Hartman - Zach Loyd, George John, Ugo Ihemelu, Jair Benitez - Jackson, Bobby Warshaw, Eric Alexander (Eric Avila 60), Andrew Jacobson (Ricardo Villar 30), Brek Shea - Marvin Chavez (Milton Rodriguez 75).
TEAM NEWS
- FC Dallas saw their three-game winning streak come to an end in the loss at Real Salt Lake. FCD did not score against RSL in their two league meetings this season.
- Daniel Hernandez was out of the FCD lineup for the first time this season, after playing every minute of every league match up to the RSL game. He missed the game with a knee injury.
- “We left [Hernandez] behind at the last minute and I think that there was a little bit of confusion in our midfield,” Hyndman said. “But I thought [our central midfielders] did do a pretty good job of just trying to stay compact and block the passing lanes and try to make the play predictable going out wide.”
- FCD goalkeeper Kevin Hartman blamed himself for the lapse that allowed RSL to take the lead just after the start of the second half.
- “I think that it was so easy that he took his eye off the ball, to be honest,” Hyndman said. “You see in the other football sport, when a ball is thrown right to a receiver and he’s got it in his hand and he drops it because he’s looking somewhere else. I think that was very uncharacteristic of Kevin.”
- Jackson had scored goals in back-to-back games and looked to make it three in row for a late equalizer, but RSL defender Chris Wingert cleared the ball off the line.
- “It was a great ball to Brek Shea and he took it down extremely well and he was going in to try to take the shot himself and he played a great ball across to Jackson and I don’t think he hit it as cleanly as he wanted to hit it,” Hyndman said. Give credit to [Chris] Wingert for never giving up and for coming in.
- Just three days after their league encounter, FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake met in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup, and this time FCD claimed a 2-0 victory. Jair Benitez curled home a freekick in the 18th minute, then Jackson finished off a quick break in the 54th for the victory.
- Here’s the FCD team: Kevin Hartman, Zach Loyd (Andrew Wiedeman 68), George John, Ugo Ihemelu, Jair Benitez, Eric Alexander, Bruno Guarda, Eric Avila, Ricardo Villar (Brek Shea 64), Bobby Warshaw, Marvin Chavez (Jackson 46).
- After having played as a fullback and holding midfielder during league play, Jackson came on as a halftime substitute at forward. “I asked him is there a position you cannot play? And he said, ‘I’d rather not play goalkeeper,’” said Hyndman.
