FC Dallas Defeat Chicago
Maximiliano Urruti and Mauro Diaz scored goals during a 17-minute stretch of the first half and FC Dallas survived a nervous final three minutes to post a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday night at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
The victory was the fourth in five matches for FC Dallas (12-6-4, 40 points), who head the Western Conference table and lead the Supporters’ Shield rankings as top team in MLS. FC Dallas is 8-0-3 at home this season and has played 16 straight matches at Toyota Stadium without a loss.
It was the first victory for FC Dallas over Chicago since 2012 after four straight losses in the Brimstone Cup series, so named because FC Dallas’ original name was the Dallas Burn.
After struggling with possession through the first few minutes of the match, FC Dallas dominated the remainder of the first half and finally broke through in the 23rd minute.
FC Dallas’ Fabian Castillo outworked Chicago defenders Rodrigo Ramos and Michael Stephens to the left of the penalty area before getting free long enough to send a scissor-kick pass across the goal mouth and toward Urruti, who pushed a header beyond the reach of Fire goalkeeper Matt Lampson.
Diaz added to the lead in the 40th minute when he took a feed from
Kellyn Acosta 30 yards from the goal line and blistered a shot past Lampson off the left post and into the net to push the score to 2-0.
FC Dallas outshot Chicago 9-2 in the first half and had four shots on goal to the Fire’s one. FC Dallas owned a 62-38 percent possession advantage and did plenty to take any chance of a comeback by the Fire in the second half out of contention.
Chicago (4-9-5, 17 points) rests at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and remains tied with Columbus for the fewest points in the league.
Kennedy Igboananike had Chicago’s best scoring chance in early minutes, getting loose on a long pass for a one-on-one against FC Dallas goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez, who was making just his sixth start of the MLS season. But Gonzalez turned away the Igboananike’s shot with his left leg and Dallas soon took control of the game for good.
Chicago got on the scoreboard in the 91st minute on a 25-yard free-kick goal by Arturo Alvarez, which put a charge into the Fire and created some nervous moments.
But FC Dallas’ Mauro Rosales answered with a goal just a minute later and the home side held on until the final whistle.
