By: Anthony Miller
Despite a strong performance by goalkeeper Maarten Paes, FC Dallas takes a hard-fought loss on the road to the Portland Timbers 1-0 Sunday night.
From the beginning of the match, the Portland Timbers came out fighting and attacking the offensive side as they got plenty of opportunities to score goals. Despite FC Dallas having possession 58.4 percent of the time, it was Portland who was able to take advantage of some openings on the offensive side. FC Dallas only had two shots in the first half while Portland had four shots. One of those four shots went in as it was Franck Boli who scored in the 35th minute to give the Timbers a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
The second half saw Portland be even more aggressive on offense recording ten shots but was not able to take advantage and increase their lead. FC Dallas spent the second half looking to get an equalizer as they had the opposite problem that Portland did as they only got three shots off and they didn’t score in the process. It would end with the Portland Timbers taking a 1-0 win over FC Dallas.
FC Dallas drops their record to 7-6-5 on the season with 26 points in the standings. The good news is that they are still just three points behind St. Louis City FC as FC Dallas is tied for third with LAFC and San Jose. FC Dallas drops their road record to 2-4-3 on the year.
Even though he allowed the lone goal in the match, Maarten Paes was the star of the match for FC Dallas as he demonstrated his dominance in front of the net. Paes finished the match with seven saves in the contest. There were multiple times when fans saw him diving to make great saves blocking with his hands. He didn’t get the necessary support on the offensive side, but Paes singlehandedly kept FC Dallas in the match.
Speaking of lack of support on offense, there was a lack of execution on offense with connecting on passes and getting teammates in a position for a goal. Tied for the league lead in goals, Jesus Ferreira was not able to get anything going as he didn’t get a shot off in the match. There weren’t much of many chances for FC Dallas to score goals and it showed on the scoreboard.
FC Dallas heads back to Texas with a trip to Austin on Wednesday with an important Western Conference matchup against Austin FC. It’s a good opportunity for FC Dallas to take a road win as they take on an Austin FC club that is third to last in the conference with just 19 points. Winning this match is expected and at this point required if FC Dallas wants to stay on pace for a top spot in the conference.
Featured Image via Twitter (@MaartenPaes30)