Host FC Dallas try to subdue Crew
Looking to start new streak, FCD face defending MLS Cup champions
PIZZA HUT PARK, Frisco, Texas
June 20, 2009 (WEEK 14) / MLS Game #104
7:30 p.m. CT (FSC/FSE)
One of the more in-form teams in Major League Soccer hits the road as the Columbus Crew travel to Pizza Hut Park to take on FC Dallas. The Crew have won four of their last six games -- led by current MLS Golden Boot leader Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who has four goals in the last two games and 10 on the season. FC Dallas saw a four-game undefeated run - their longest of the season - come to an end last week in a loss to in-state rival Houston.
REFEREE: Terry Vaughn. SAR (bench): Paul Scott; JAR (opposite): Jeff Muschik; 4th: Chris Penso
MLS Career: 111 games; FC/gm: 29.1; Y/gm: 3.9; R: 37; pens: 35
INJURY REPORT: FC DALLAS - OUT: GK Dario Sala (L knee); DF Steve Purdy (R knee); MF Alvaro Sanchez (R ankle); DF Daniel Torres (R hamstring); DF George John (R hamstring); QUESTIONABLE: MF Bruno Guarda (R ankle); PROBABLE: MF Dave van den Bergh (R ankle), MF David Ferreira (R hamstring) ... COLUMBUS CREW - OUT: MF Adam Moffat (L hamstring strain); QUESTIONABLE: GK William Hesmer (lumbar back strain); Frankie Hejduk (L groin strain); DF Andy Iro (L quad strain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: DAL: Andre Rocha
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: DAL: Marcelo Saragosa ... CLB: Emmanuel Ekpo, Danny O'Rourke
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (34 meetings): FC Dallas 14 wins (1 shootout), 49 goals ... Crew 14 wins (1 shootout), 47 goals ... Ties 6
AT DALLAS (16 meetings): FC Dallas 10 wins (1 shootout), 28 goals ... Crew 5 wins (1 shootout), 16 goals ... Ties 1
RETURN MATCH: 8/15: FC Dallas at Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m. ET
LAST YEAR (MLS):
8/16: CLB 2, DAL 1 (Carroll 62; Evans 65 - Cunningham 35)
8/30: DAL 1, CLB 2 (Cunningham 35 - Moreno 37; Gaven 40)
• Over the 12-year history of the league, the teams have now evenly split their all-time series, each team winning one (with one shootout victory) and six draws.
• A year ago, the Crew won both meetings with the two meetings coming over a three-week period. The year before, FC Dallas won both meetings.
• The previous season, the Crew had won both matchups, winning 2-1 in Frisco, then 3-1 in Columbus. Then the year before that, the teams split their two-game season set, each winning on home turf, though FCD took a victory in a U.S. Open Cup third round match in Columbus.
• Coaches record: Robert Warzycha vs. DAL: P2 W1 L1 D0 ... Schellas Hyndman v CLB: P2 W0 L2 D0
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas saw their four-game unbeaten run come to an end Saturday night, falling 3-1 to the Houston Dynamo at Pizza Hut Park to lose their grip on El Capitán. FC Dallas have 10 points from 13 matches, sitting in seventh place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of San Jose.LAST MATCH
• The Dynamo had won for the fourth consecutive game at midweek, Stuart Holden's goal from a flicked-on goal kick in first-half stoppage time the only marker in a 1-0 win against Chivas USA. FC Dallas had extended their unbeaten streak to four games the week before, claiming a late 2-2 draw with San Jose.
• The Dynamo showed no signs of wear, up two goals by halftime. In the 13th minute, Andrew Hainault kept the play alive by tracking down a loose ball and getting it to Brian Mullan, who hammered a low cross into the goalmouth. Cam Weaver stormed in to bang it into the back of the net for his first goal since coming to Houston the week before.
• In the 37th minute, Houston doubled the lead. A corner kick was headed clear, but only as far as Richard Mulrooney some 25 yards straight out from goal, and veteran ripped a low drive inside the left post past an unsighted Ray Burse for his first goal of the season.
• Weaver completed his brace in the 63rd minute to put the game away, taking a short pass from Corey Ashe wide open in the area and slotting it home. FCD pulled a goal back four minutes later when Eric Avila put the ball back into the mixer from a cleared corner and Drew Moor's flick header found the inside of the post.
• FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman made two changes to the team that played to a 2-2 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes the week before. Kyle Davies made his first MLS start as Marcelo Saragosa moved to the substitutes' bench, and Andre Rocha came into the midfield for the injured Alvaro Sanchez.
• Here's Hyndman's team (4-4-1-1): Ray Burse - Drew Moor, Kyle Davies, Pablo Ricchetti, Anthony Wallace (Eric Avila 62) - Jeff Cunningham (Brek Shea 46), Dax McCarty, Andre Rocha, Dave van den Bergh (Marcelo Saragosa 79) - David Ferreira - Kenny Cooper. Substitutes Not Used: Michael Dello-Russo, Josh Lambo, Peri Marosevic, Blake Wagner
• "I think what went wrong was we gave up three goals and then we might have missed three goals," Hyndman said. "The game is made up of moments where you have opportunities to score goals and if you don't score goals, it will come back and haunt you."
TEAM NEWS
• Drew Moor moved to right back after having spent considerable time in central defense, and he contributed his third goal on the season, second on the team behind Kenny Cooper.
• "If I didn't score, I probably wouldn't have been allowed to come back up into the locker room," Moor said. "I was disappointed in the way I played when I was on the ball. I didn't think I possessed the ball well enough. I didn't give our guys chances to get the ball in danger spots. I hit a couple decent crosses that led to a couple chances but, other than the goal, I was disappointed personally tonight."
• Kyle Davies made his full professional debut, starting in central defense alongside Pablo Ricchetti. The U.S. under-20 national team captain had been acquired from Real Salt Lake earlier in the season.
• "I thought Kyle did great," Hyndman said. "I think any coach would be nervous about how a player will do in their first game. He's a young player. ... He gives us a bright spot. We're sitting with six injured players and three of those are center backs. It's nice to see a young player get a chance to do a good job."
• It meant that it was the 10th different combination of defenders in 12 games for FC Dallas. "Yeah, you always want to build continuity between a core group of guys back there, but that's how it is," goalkeeper Ray Burse said. "You've got to deal with it. The guys that come in are fully capable of doing the job. We've just got to come together and produce like we did in Chicago."
• Hyndman said none of the center backs is likely to return this weekend.
• "George (John) is down there but the last time we got him out, he pulled a muscle after 30 minutes and re-injured his hamstring," Hyndman said. "I think (Steve) Purdy is behind Dario (Sala). Torres is out here training but there doesn't seem to be a lot of progress."
• However, FCD did get better news on left midfielder Dave van den Bergh, who left Saturday's loss to Houston with an injured right ankle. "Nothing real serious, it's more of a bruise," Hyndman said. "I would think he'd be probable for this weekend."
COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew won for the second consecutive week and extended their unbeaten streak to nine games, coming from behind in the second half for a 2-1 win Sunday against Chivas USA at Columbus Crew Stadium. The Crew have 19 points from 13 matches on the season, sitting in a tie for third place in the Eastern Conference with Kansas City and Toronto FC.LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA had won just once in their last five games after the midweek loss in Houston, while the defending champion Crew hadn't lost since a 2-1 reverse by Chivas at The Home Depot Center, a span of eight games.
• Chivas took the lead in the 39th minute with an opportunistic goal. Crew defender Eric Brunner went down trying to play a ball headed back toward his own goal, and Chivas forward Eduardo Lillingston was quickly on it, skipping past goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum and rolling it into the empty goal for his sixth goal on the year.
• But after the break, Guillermo Barros Schelotto brought the Crew all the way back. In the 61st minute, a long goal kick bounced over a Chivas defender and Schelotto latched onto it before banging home from inside the area.
• Then three minutes from the end, Gino Padula picked out Schelotto with a curling early cross from the left and the 2008 MLS MVP settled the ball before slotting home inside the far post for his league-leading 10th goal on the season.
• Crew head coach Robert Warzycha made two changes to the team that defeated the Kansas City Wizards 2-0 the weekend before. Brian Carroll returned to the lineup, with Chad Marshall suspended, and Alejandro Moreno returned from international duty in place of Pat Noonan.
• Here's Warzycha's team (4-1-3-1-1): Andy Gruenebaum - Jed Zayner, Eric Brunner, Danny O'Rourke, Gino Padula - Brian Carroll (Kevin Burns 64) - Emmanuel Ekpo (Steven Lenhart 84), Eddie Gaven, Robbie Rogers - Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Alejandro Moreno (Pat Noonan 75). Substitutes Not Used: Alec Dufty, Jason Garey, Alex Grendi, Andy Iro
TEAM NEWS
• A year ago, Schelotto had a league-best 19 assists in the 2008 regular season en route to winning the league MVP award and added six in the playoffs, including three in the MLS Cup Final that led the Crew to a 3-1 victory against New York and the team's first title. He also had seven goals last season in 27 games but that pales to his current pace.
• "I'm playing the same as last year only I have best possibility for goals and now I'm getting goals," he said. "I don't know why."
• Schelotto's 10 are more than half of the Crew's 19 goals. However, he has only one assist. "This is a team sport. His goals wouldn't happen without the other players. Give credit to the other players. He is at the right place at the right time. I think this season he is playing better, I think he is sharper than last year," Warzycha said.
• The Crew wore down a tired Chivas squad playing for the second time in five days and had 14 of 17 shots in the second half.
• "The first half we were a little bit slow," Warzycha said. "It was a chain reaction. We were slow to pressure the ball. The first guy was slow then the second guy was slow. The second half was much better. We defended as a team. We didn't give then space to play. They couldn't string any passes together."
• After missing two games with a separated shoulder, Brian Carroll was able to return to the lineup and play 64 minutes. "Brian is very tough. He did a very good job in the first half and also in the first part of the second half. It is great to have him back," Warzycha said.
• The Crew have four wins and five ties in their past nine games; have not lost at home (12-0-5) since June 7, 2008, and are three points behind first-place D.C. United.
• "This win felt like circa 2008 championship team coming back from a goal down and protecting the home turf and winning one we really needed to win," Gruenebaum said.
• On Monday, the Crew sent forward Pat Noonan to the Colorado Rapids for allocation money and a 2009 first-round SuperDraft selection.
• "Frankly, Pat is a good player on the bench behind Schelotto and that's not going to change. We felt it was a win-win for us and him to make the move," said Crew president and general manager Mark McCullers. "At the time when we traded for Pat in August of last year we were getting ready to make a playoff run. We had a roster spot open and the resources. We wanted to make sure that we had a quality player that could step up and help us out if an injury were to happen; someone who could challenge for starting time. He was all those things for us but he was too good of a player to be an insurance policy on the bench. There were other teams that had been calling about him and we felt like we had to do a deal when we had the opportunity."
