Photo by Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports
By IVES GALARCEP
The New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas have both shown the ability to score goals on a consistent basis, driven by dangerous midfields capable of controlling a match.
When they faced each other on Friday night, the two sides neutralized each other in a tightly-contested match that ended in a goal-less draw in Frisco.
The Red Bulls did well to neutralize FC Dallas’ midfield creators, with Fabian Castillo and Mauro Diaz unable to unlock New York’s defense. On the other side, FC Dallas’ defense kept Bradley Wright-Phillips under wraps, while Moises Hernandez held his own against the normally dangerous Lloyd Sam.
FC Dallas had a handful of opportunities to beat Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles, but came the closest in the 72nd minute, when Michael Barrios sent a goal-bound shot past Robles only to have Felipe Martins clear it off the line with a jumping side-footed kick.
FC Dallas generated another chance in the 76th minute when a failed bicycle kick attempt by Tesho Akindele set up a wide-open look for Castillo in front of goal, only for the Colombian winger to send his close range shot over the crossbar.
The Red Bulls were held without a goal for the first time this season, despite a 60-40 edge in possession. FC Dallas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy recorded three saves in the shutout, while Robles made two stops to deny the home side a goal.
The draw halted FC Dallas’ two-match winning streak, but extended their unbeaten run to five matches.
The Red Bulls return to action on March 24 against the Philadelphia Union, while FC Dallas travels to Canada on Saturday to take on the Montreal Impact.
Here are the match highlights:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCo-fUJC-zE]
The failed bicycle kick was Acosta…can’t blame you for the mistake, what was he doing up top in the first place? Definitely not where you would expect to find him.
Good match from the highlights, certainly didn’t look like the snoozer that most nihl-nihls end up being…didn’t get to watch live but Blas looked a little quiet on the night, which generally means we’ll struggle to create. Lots of positives to take away though, first clean sheet in a while, Hedges makes his return, Zimmerman looking like a beast, Hernandez dialing in his consistency, Diaz finding his MVP candidate form, etc.
Typo on next game date — should be May 24, not “March 24” — I have no interest in revisiting this past Winter/early Spring with the weather we had in NJ.
I was there. Definitely did not seem like NY controlled first half. They were defensive and played tight. I didnt see them dictate the tempo or do much tbh..seemed pretty stale…to say they controlled the first would be stretch.
Highlights made that seem very one sided right until the end. Lordy Dallas is dangerous. I can’t believe there wasn’t a goal.
That’s exactly how the match went.. One sided until the end.
The highlights are a bit misleading. Dallas had the better chances, but Red Bulls controlled the game most of the first half. The only 2 plays that really had chances to be goals both belonged to Dallas, the Castillo shot over the bar and Felipe’s goal line clearance, hence the video’s focus on them.