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FC Dallas holds serve at home after Avila’s late goal deals RSL 2-1 defeat

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The MLS Cup holders are in danger of being shown an early exit from the playoffs.

Substitute Eric Avila's goal on a nifty 18-yard strike in the 88th minute helped FC Dallas overcome Real Salt Lake, 2-1, at Pizza Hut Park Saturday night. Even more menacing for RSL, though, is that it will have to play the home leg next weekend without its playmaking central midfielder.

Javier Morales received two yellow cards, thus suspending him for the second leg of the series at Rio Tinto. FC Dallas' Atiba Harris was also ejected and will be forced to miss the second leg.

Fabian Espindola opened the scoring for the visitors in the fifth minute to give RSL an early lead, but Jeff Cunningham, who came on in the 32nd minute for an injured Milton Rodriguez, tallied the equalizer just before halftime.

Highlights from the match are after the jump:

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What did you think of the match? Do you think Real Salt Lake can overcome the deficit and loss of Morales in the second leg? Impressed with Avila's finish?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. As a Dynamo fan, I would like to see them move back to Dallas as well. The problem is, is it even possible to ditch such a new stadium specifically built for them? How long are they going to be stuck in Frisco?

    I really can’t believe the short-sightedness of FC Dallas management when they built this stadium.

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  2. Why is everyone so hung up on Dallas’ attendance? Nobody said a word about this until Toronto and Seattle, and now everyone acts like attendance is the MOST important stat (see John Harkes, “Seattle was the most dominant team in the 2nd half of the season” comment as Dallas was ending its 19 game record setting unbeaten streak).

    Now, that said, 11k for a playoff is a shame. I won’t use the fact that the Rangers are on everyone’s mind here, and also, Halloween. Not good excuses. The real problem is the fact that the team has been INVISIBLE for the last few years. This is due to location (far far far north suburbs), but more so due to lack of marketing savvy, lack of brand recognition, and just simple incompetence at marketing to the Latin demo.

    Things are turning around here already with our new President, albeit slowly. But before you go criticizing Dallas so harshly, recognize that we are NOT last in average, and lob some of this negativity at the other teams that “struggle” at the ticket counter: http://www.socceramerica.com/article/40114/mls-attendance-on-the-rise.html

    I BELIEVE IN FCD!

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  3. Yeah I agree, that they should move to another city… Like back to Dallas instead of playing all the way in Frisco, I would definitely buy season tickets if they were playing in Dallas. Dallas has the new Dart rail system in place so it would be easier for fans to and from the games.

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  4. Dallas should rennovate the stadium or move the team…Other cities would love to have a strong team like this. They have a shot to beat the champs!

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  5. Yeah your right Hopper RSL is known for an empty stadium…I mean crap just the in the last two games they have had 40,000+ fans. What a shame, and doing it without big name players Henry, Beckham, Donovan, Marquez. Dallas has struggled with attendance but RSL is always in the top 5 of the league in attendance numbers.

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  6. Hopper, you do realize that this game ended after the first World Series game ever in Dallas started. You might not be a baseball fan, but Dallas/Fort Worth has waited 40 years to have a decent baseball team with a chance to win a championship. I predict, that if a second round game is played in Dallas that attendence will be much better.

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