FC Dallas 1, Columbus Crew 2

Dallas falls to fourth place in the Western Conference with Saturday's loss.

Last time these teams met FC Dallas scored early but was unable to hold the lead, going down 2-1. It was nearly an identical sight on Saturday night as FCD lost to the Columbus Crew. One of the only major differences was this loss was at Pizza Hut Park.

In the 35th minute, Jeff Cunningham scored his second FCD goal and the 101th of his career. His previous goal was against the Crew in their last meeting. Bruno Guarda was awarded the assist, his first MLS point for his first start.

But the lead would be short-lived as Alejandro Moreno and Chad Marshall combined on a Guillermo Barros Schelotto corner kick in the 37th, tying the match at ones. Then, just four minutes later, Eddie Gaven notched the Crews second goal of the match, putting his team on top, where they would stay through the rest of the game.

Despite some substitutions and crafty efforts from midfielder Dax McCarty, FCD couldn't find the equalizer, extending their winless streak to three games and falling to fourth in the Western Conference.

Complete match report.

GAME 21 – August 23, 2008

FC DALLAS 1, KANSAS CITY WIZARDS 1

Community America Ballpark – Kansas City, Kansas

Scoring:

DAL -- Andre Rocha 1 (Dax McCarty 2) 7

KC -- Jimmy Conrad 5 (Josh Wolff 1) 92+

FC DALLAS (4-4-2): Dario Sala (GK), Blake Wagner, Aaron Pitchkolan, Drew Moor, Adrian Serioux, Victor Sikora (Eric Avila 50), Pablo Ricchetti, Andre Rocha (Bruno Guarda 66), Dax McCarty, Jeff Cunningham (Michael Dello-Russo 73), Kenny Cooper.

Subs Not Used: Ray Burse (GK), Abe Thompson, Dominic Oduro, Jamie Watson,

Shots – 9; Shots on Goal – 6; Total Saves – 5; Fouls – 14; Offsides – 8; Corner Kicks – 3

KANSAS CITY: Kevin Hartman (GK), Matt Marquess (Roger Espinoza 66), Jimmy Conrad, Aaron Hohlbein, Jack Jewsbury, Claudio Lopez, Kerry Zavagnin, Sasha Victorine (Ivan Trujillo 75), Michael Harrington (Carlos Marinelli 54), Davy Arnaud, Josh Wolff.

Subs Not Used: Eric Kronberg (GK), Kurt Morsink, Chance Myers, Tyson Wahl.

Shots – 21; Shots on Goal – 6; Total Saves – 5; Fouls – 18; Offsides – 3; Corner Kicks – 7

Misconduct Summary:

KC -- Sasha Victorine (caution) 12

DAL -- Drew Moor (caution) 22

DAL -- Adrian Serioux (caution) 38

DAL -- Victor Sikora (caution) 42

DAL -- Pablo Ricchetti (caution) 46

DAL -- Pablo Ricchetti (ejection; Second Caution) 62

KC -- Roger Espinoza (caution) 79

KC -- Davy Arnaud (caution) 84

KC -- Carlos Marinelli (caution) 85

NOTES:

FC Dallas is now 6-7-8 (26 pts.) and remains in third place in the Western Conference, one point behind Real Salt Lake and five points behind conference-leading Houston, who play the NY Red Bulls on Sunday.

FC Dallas earned a 1-1 draw the first time the teams met earlier this season, with FCD’s Abe Thompson tying the game with a stoppage time goal on July 4 at Pizza Hut Park.

Dallas is now 15-17-8 all-time against Kansas City, including 6-9-5 in KC.

FCD has now earned points in more than half of its road games, now 2-5-4 away from Pizza Hut Park.

The team is 3-4-2 versus Eastern Conference opponents.

Andre Rocha scored his first career MLS goal tonight. He is the 8th different player to score for FC Dallas this season.

Tonight, Dax McCarty made his 6th start of the season, and first since July 19. He spent the last few weeks in China as a member of the U.S. Olympic team.

This was McCarty’s first assist since April 20, a 2-0 road win at Chivas USA.

Midfielder Victor Sikora left the game with a right knee injury. He’ll be further evaluated upon return to Dallas.

Pablo Ricchetti received a red card with 28 minutes remaining. It was his first ejection in his MLS career, and he was the fourth FCD player to be shown red this season.

Drew Moor, wearing the captain’s armband for the third consecutive game, received his fourth caution of the season. He’ll be suspended for one game if he receives a yellow in any of the next three games in which he appears.

FCD is now 5-1-3 when scoring first, and 5-1-4 when leading at the half.

Dallas returns to Pizza Hut Park for its next two games, on Saturday, August 30 versus the Columbus Crew (7:30 pm CT) and Thursday, Sept. 4 versus the Colorado Rapids (7:30 p.m. CT).

Tonight’s attendance was 9,825.

Schellas Hyndman on the game: “Obviously, going into extended time you feel like something got away. But I think that it’s also nice that we got a point on the road, and played 30 or so minutes with a man down, and I thought it was a pretty physical game. So I’m glad to get a point.”

Posted by Erin