FC Dallas continued its history of stumbling through the MLS postseason, blowing a second half two goal aggregate lead in a 4-2 ET aggregate loss to the defending champion Houston Dynamo. This intra-state rivalry continues to get chippier and chippier with each passing fixture as today’s outing resembled a rugby match, with Arturo Alvarez being sent off for kicking Brad Davis, and several other yellow cards being issued for violent conduct. Keep in mind Rico Clark of Houston is serving an MLS record suspension for kicking Carlos Ruiz last month when the two teams met.
Steve Morrow has to be complimented however for his tactical approach to the match which saw FC Dallas in control before Alvarez’s sending off. Denilson in what will probably be his last game in MLS played fairly well until being replaced by Pablo Richetti after Alvarez was sent off.
So FC Dallas, one of the most consistent winning franchises in MLS history still only has one piece of silverware: the 1997 US Open Cup to show for its success. We’ll see if this changes next year.
PODCAST NOTES:
- Episode 31 of the podcast is now online. It features a now dated preview of the FC Dallas-Houston match with Bryan Zygo of the World Soccer Wrap podcast, and a look back at the epic Chicago-DC United match from Thursday night.
- Episode 32 featuring a wrap up of all the first round playoff series will be available late Monday afternoon.
- Episode 33 featuring a look at Americans playing on the European continent with correspondent Mario Valdez will be available late Thursday or early Friday.
