DC United 2, FC Dallas 1

by PegNews wire

In the five games in which FC Dallas has scored a goal, four of those games they scored first. But, as Saturday's game is a testament to, scoring first has not been an indicator of success for this struggling team. Kicking off to one of the worst starts in club history, FCD is now 1-5-1.

Andre Rocha got his first goal of the season to open scoring in the 28th minute. Though DC United was the team putting on the pressure, FCD got a corner kick and the midfielder headed home Dave van den Bergh's cross. The lead would stand for the remainder of the first half despite heavy attacking from the DC team.

In the 56th minute Jaime Moreno would hammer home the equalizer on a Brian Namoff assist. 10 minutes later Moreno would put the cap on the match when he got past the Dallas back line and calmly chipped a ball over the sliding-in goalkeeper, Ray Burse, for his second goal.

Burse, who started for his fifth game of the year, filling in for an injured and then red-carded Dario Sala, made a career-high seven saves on Saturday. The statistic and post-game quotes from FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman indicate that the defensive issue is not with the goalkeeper, but with the leader of the defensive line: "You’d think your center of your defense should be your strongest and both goals come through there so it’s disappointing."

GAME 7 – May 2, 2009

FC DALLAS 1, DC UNITED 2

RFK Stadium – Washington, DC

Scoring:

DAL -- Andre Rocha 1 (Dave van den Bergh 2) 28

DC -- Jaime Moreno 1 (Bryan Namoff 3) 56

DC -- Jaime Moreno 2 (Christian Gomez 1) 66

FC DALLAS: Ray Burse, Marcelo Saragosa, Drew Moor, Daniel Torres (Steve Purdy 67), Blake Wagner, Andre Rocha (Eric Avila 79), Pablo Ricchetti (Peri Marosevic 75), Dax McCarty, Dave van den Bergh, David Ferreira, Kenny Cooper.

Subs Not Used: Josh Lambo, Alvaro Sanchez, Bruno Guarda, Kyle Davies.

Shots – 10; Shots on Goal – 3; Total Saves – 7; Fouls – 8; Offsides – 1; Corner Kicks – 8

DC UNITED: Milos Kocic, Bryan Namoff, Dejan Jakovic, Marc Burch, Chris Pontius, Ben Olsen (Christian Gomez 58), Santino Quaranta, Clyde Simms, Rodney Wallace, Luciano Emilio (Greg Janicki 84), Jaime Moreno (Andrew Jacobson 74).

Subs Not Used: Louis Crayton, Devon McTavish, Thabiso Khumalo, Ange N'Silu.

Shots – 17; Shots on Goal – 11; Total Saves – 2; Fouls – 13; Offsides – 2; Corner Kicks – 7

Misconduct Summary:

DAL -- Kenny Cooper (caution) 45

DC -- Dejan Jakovic (caution) 62

NOTES:

· FC Dallas falls to 1-5-1 (4 pts) following the team’s second consecutive regular season loss.

· Dallas is now 15-13-5 all-time against DC United during regular season play and 4-7-4 at RFK Stadium.

· The result ends a four-game regular season unbeaten streak for Dallas in the nation’s capital dating back to May 28, 2005.

· This was the second time in 10 days that these two teams met at RFK, with the first an April 22 U.S. Open Cup play-in game.

· Andre Rocha scored his first goal of the season in the 28th minute, heading home a Dave van den Bergh corner kick. Rocha has now scored three of his four career goals against United.

· Van den Bergh is the team’s assists leader with two on the year.

· Ray Burse started his fifth game of the year in goal for Dallas and made a season-high seven saves.

· Six Dallas players have now started all seven regular season games: David Ferreira, Kenny Cooper, Drew Moor, Blake Wagner, Dax McCarty, and Dave van den Bergh. Moor, Ferreira and van den Bergh have played every minute this season.

· Defender Steve Purdy returned to the field as a second-half substitute after missing the last four games with a right hamstring injury.

· Newly-acquired Kyle Davies made his first appearance on the 18-man day of game roster after joining Dallas via trade on Tuesday, April 28.

· Rookie defender George John missed his second consecutive game with a strained left hamstring, suffered in last week’s U.S. Open Cup play-in game at DC. Forward Jeff Cunningham also missed the match with a strained right hamstring.

· Goalkeeper Dario Sala served a one game suspension tonight after receiving a red card last week at Chivas USA.

· This was the third of four straight road games for Dallas, beginning with last week’s U.S. Open Cup play-in game.

· FC Dallas will conclude its four-game road swing next Saturday, May 9 against in-state rival Houston Dynamo at Robertson Stadium (8 p.m. CT live on ESPN2).

· Head Coach Schellas Hyndman on the game: “Overall thoughts? Disappointing. Not to take anything away from D.C. United, they outplayed us. They played quick, aggressive. For us, the disappointment comes from giving up two goals and we’ve given up 14 goals in seven games. You’d think your center of your defense should be your strongest and both goals come through there so it’s disappointing.”

Statistics and notes provided by FC Dallas Communications

Posted by Erin