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FC Dallas edges New England, 1-0

FcdallasNRevolution

FC Dallas' slim playoff hopes gained more steam on Wednesday night after a Jeff Cunningham goal helped give Dallas a 1-0 victory against New England at the Cotton Bowl.

Cunningham headed home a Jair Benitez cross in the 71st minute to give FC Dallas its third win in four matches and move the Texas club closer to the playoff pack with three matches remaining. FC Dallas is still four points back of the Revs for the final post-season spot.

The loss kept New England from tightening its hold on the last playoff spot. The Revs still have four matches remaining.

What do you think of FC Dallas winning again? Starting to believe Schellas Hyndman's team could sneak into the playoffs? Wondering if Steve Ralston's season-ending injury will keep New England from holding onto its playoff spot?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. As a Revs season ticket holder of 3 years, I think I can say with some certainty, we’re toast this year. I don’t see us making the playoffs with the final stretch of games we have. Not unless Columbus and Chicago give up, over those last 3 games.

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  2. If Dallas wins out, not impossible as they play three teams in descent, than they are in and beat out Seattle for story of the year.

    McBride, and Cunningham SA 2010

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  3. scott47a – maybe it has more to do with a player *LEADING THE LEAGUE IN GOALS SCORED* or something silly like that, rather than it being whoever is a forward for FC Dallas.

    Just a thought.

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  4. scott47a

    yes people demand FC Dallas strikers get a chance but there is generally a reason for that. FC Dallas and the Burn before them have always had good strikers. Kreis, Eddie Johnson, Ruiz, Cooper, and now Cunningham. They have all been strikers who have produced and even been at or near the top of the Golden Boot race.

    It is no different than New England people wanting Twellman to get more shots when he was in top form or if Donovan were not a part of the USMNT LA people would be calling for him to get shots. They wanted Edson Buddle to get a shot last year. When a team has a player leading the league in scoring you want them to have a chance on the National side.

    Yes I know Ruiz was not a US player but he was a striker who played at that level for FC Dallas.

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  5. “What is it with people demanding that whoever FC Dallas runs out as striker get some time on the Nats.

    Please stop.”

    Sure scott47a, USMNT should stick with non goal scoring forwards like Ching instead of taking a look at players scoring at a fantastic pace for their club. Whatever…

    Just because two of these forwards deserving a good run with the USMNT play or played at Dallas is of no relevance.

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  6. @Athan – I agree with you. There is a lot more to Cunningham’s history with the USMNT than the stats show. Arguably the same could be said for many fringe players who never quite stuck with the USMNT.

    It is particularly interesting to look at fring forwards, right wings, and left backs. Historically, these are the weakest positions for the USMNT, but I would say that these positions have seen the least amount of players get real opportunities. By real opportunities I mean 360 minutes as a starter with the A team and then another 200 minutes or so as a sub or B team player.

    It is very difficult to make the team when your only auditions are with other fring players getting there only looks at positions where the team actually has depth. Look at the midfields that Twellman, Cunningham, Ching (pre 2006), Kirovski, etc used to play with. We all knew that they were not world class and could not single handedly take over a game (NONE of our forwards could), but they were never as hopeless as they looked with the pressure on, trying to make the best of their only chance of the year with a B/C midfield and backs.

    Blasphemy alert…. I was always curious to see how McBride would have fared with those B/C teams that Cunningham and Twellman got there real minutes with? I think I got my answer in the last Olympics when McBride, although older but having scored many USMNT and EPL goals, did not single handedly dominte younger, less seasoned defenses. The other players on the field for your team make a difference that even BMB could not overcome.

    Guys like Cunningham never really got a chance. It was only this summer that writers started to notice how difficult it was to judge much about USMNT players in tournaments like the Gold Cup when the US send a hodgepodge group or B/C players.

    All that said, I wonder if his personality / relationship with the coach / relationship with other players also contributed to what I consider to be his lack of a real chance even though we had no dependable strikers outside of McBride.

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  7. For those saying that Cunningham provides nothing when he is not scoring, you obviously don’t know soccer too well. There is no greater detriment to a defense than a forward that can truly stretch the d. Cunningham, with his speed and quickness is able to pull out the defense and open up the field for guys like McCarty and Ferreira to find open space in front of them. The defense always has to respect Cunningham’s 1 v 1 skill and pace. The same can not be said about Casey or Ching. Speed combined with skill absolutely kills, and Cunningham at least deserves a chance to show that with the Nats. And please, let’s be honest, he has never been given a fair shot. He started 1 game and played 56 minutes a while back in the Gold Cup. His other appearances were off the bench for 15-10 minutes here or there with the b or c team.

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  8. “Ching and Casey can provide things to the team even if they’re not scoring (though obviously it’s better if they do).”

    What exactly do they provide except for large piles of ugly standing in front of the goal box?

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  9. If I just went by reading comments on this blog I would think Conor Casey could not possibly have more than a handful of goals in his MLS career. He’s clearly one of the best American forwards. Now, of course that’s like being one of the best Cuban skiiers, but still, you think he’d get SOME credit for that here. It’s not like Bradley is calling him up instead of Wayne Rooney.

    And no, I see little to suggest there’s some kind of gap between Casey and Cooper, though a younger Cooper clearly has a better long term future..

    Posted by: Justin O | October 01, 2009 at 03:19 AM
    ——————————

    I’d definitely put Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey Brian Ching, and Brian McBride (yes he’s still better than Casey) all above him. And Robbie Findley, Kenny Cooper (I’m not even a Cooper fan), Eddie Johnson, Chris Rolfe and Jeff Cunningham at or near his level.

    DISCLAIMER: I am probably the biggest Conor Casey hater you will ever meet. I will never give that man credit for anything after watching all his performances in the Confederations Cup.

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  10. did i miss something here? where did Dallas come from?

    they got some killer 2nd 1/2 of the season stats. in the last 2 months:
    *23 goals
    *shutout only once by #1 Crew
    *51,000 fans attended today’s match – oops, that’s cuz it was a doubleheader! j/k

    what happened in Dallas? and can i transfer that to Seattle plz? Montero can’t do it alone…

    Colombia beat Mexico! oh ya!

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  11. If I just went by reading comments on this blog I would think Conor Casey could not possibly have more than a handful of goals in his MLS career. He’s clearly one of the best American forwards. Now, of course that’s like being one of the best Cuban skiiers, but still, you think he’d get SOME credit for that here. It’s not like Bradley is calling him up instead of Wayne Rooney.

    And no, I see little to suggest there’s some kind of gap between Casey and Cooper, though a younger Cooper clearly has a better long term future..

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  12. @Gene

    or Brian Ching or Conor Casey or Koravski..should I keep going?

    Posted by: Conor Casey’s knee | October 01, 2009 at 02:15 AM
    ————————
    Ante Razov, Santino Quaranta, Taylor Twellman, Josh Wolff

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  13. No way Dallas makes it. Too many teams in between.

    Ching and Casey can provide things to the team even if they’re not scoring (though obviously it’s better if they do). Cunningham provides nothing if he’s not scoring, and he doesn’t score for the Nats. I don’t really see why he should get another shot. He’s not any different of a player now than he was before.

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  14. I am just thankful that for now Casey is no long in the lead for the Golden Boot. He most definitely does not deserve it.

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  15. Slyboy, I stand corrected, per Wikipedia, he has had 10 appearances in the national team. To be fair, it is a sizable amount of games for a guy with this level of talent. But we’ve had other good MLS players whose gotten more opportunities even though they haven’t really scored much.

    In any event, I think Cunningham’s goal-scoring efforts this season should earn him another shot. Of course, he could turn out to be another Jason Kreiss or Taylor Twellman (prolific in MLS, very average internationally). But since Bradley’s mode of operation has been giving many new people a shot, I don’t see why Cunningham does not get one.

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  16. Cunningham’s good, I’ll obviously grant everyone that. But damn I hate to see him score, just appears to be a cocky SOB…perhaps it has something to do with his penchant for scoring against former teams (see RSL). I would let him play for the Nats, only if he replaced Brian Ching though : )

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  17. Ives, could you please shed some light (or at least your thoughts) regarding why Cunningham hasn’t gottten an opportunity to play in the national team?

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  18. Seriously I’d take Cunningham over Casey any day. I highly doubt we’ll be seeing him (even in a winter friendly). I wonder if Cunningham regrets not playing for Jamaica?

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  19. this looks like the end of NE for the season. As a neutral fan I would root for NE to miss the playoffs. The last thing we want to see is a depleted Revs team play 90 mins of bunker ball.

    Ives…what are the chances of seeing Cunningham play for the US in January?(probably against a domestic based scandinavian side)

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