Minnesota United FC 4, FC Dallas 1 | 2017 MLS Match Recap

Christian Ramirez - Walker Zimmerman - DAL v MIN

FC Dallas, looking to turn around its nine-match winless streak, instead extended it — and put their playoff chances in jeopardy — losing to Minnesota United FC 4-1 at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday night.


Dallas opened the scoring the 14th minute when Tesho Akindele hammered home a Michael Barrios assist for the match's first goal. But Minnesota would take the halftime lead on two excellent efforts: the first coming from Christian Ramirez (for his team-leading 13th goal) in the 24th minute, and the second on a Miguel Ibarra volley assisted by Ramirez.


In a wild second half, Mauro Diaz won a penalty kick shortly after subbing into the match, but his 68th-minute effort from the spot was saved by Bobby Shuttleworth, and two minutes later, Ethan Finlay scored what would emerge as the insurance goal. Abu Danladi, atoning for an 80th-minute miss on a one-on-one situation, converted a near-carbon-copy play in the 88th minute to round out the scoring.



Goals


  • 14' – DAL – Tesho Akindele Watch
  • 24' – MIN – Christian Ramirez Watch
  • 35' – MIN – Miguel Ibarra Watch
  • 70' – MIN – Ethan Finlay Watch
  • 88' – MIN – Abu Danladi Watch


Three Things


MAXI-MUM FRUSTRATION BUILT EARLY:
 While the match certainly hinged on Mauro Diaz failing to convert his penalty kick, FC Dallas was denied an early goal that could have set the match on a much diffferent narrative course. It looked as if
Maximiliano Urruti
scored an 8th minute screamer on a Barrios assist, but due to an interference call, it was wiped off the board. That, paired with the Akindele goal six minutes later, might have propelled FC Dallas back into the win column.

  • WHEN BULLS SEE RED: Akindele's night ended in inglorious fashion. Charging hard onto a ball sent into the box, with his team two goals down, Akindele slid into a diving Shuttleworth. The referee, seeing the lateness and the force of the studs-to-chest contact, pulled out the red card and sent Akindele off to add to Dallas's misery. And it wasn't the first card of the night for contact with Shuttleworth — Barrios picked up a yellow card six minutes earlier for a shoulder-to-shoulder collision that sent Barrios to the turf.

  • A THREE-POST HALF: While Shuttleworth was strong on his PK save, the posts denied three additional second-half goal chances. Francisco Calvo had a 51st-minute chance, coming after some deft, short passing from Minnesota's attackers, smack against the post to trigger a Dallas counter. A beautiful potential assist from Diaz to Akindele in the 72nd minute ended with Akindele caroming his shot off the post, adding to Dallas fans' growing, collective sense of dread. And in the 80th minute, Danladi, making a solo run against Dallas keeper Jesse Gonzalez in his first real action as a late sub, appeared to have him smartly beat with a curling shot that curled just a bit too much.

  • They Said It


    "In the second half, I think we were very disorganized defensively and I have to take full responsibility not just for that, but from the way we managed and just controlled the game. We lost our heads. We lost control of the game."
    —FC Dallas coach Oscar Pareja


    Next Up


    • Minnesota United FC: Saturday, August 30 at Houston Dynamo (4 pm ET | MLS LIVE)
    • FC Dallas: Saturday, August 30 at Orlando City SC (9 pm ET | Univision, Facebook, MLS LIVE)