A stunning D.J. Taylor strike earned Minnesota United a rare road win, beating FC Dallas 2-1 at Toyota Stadium on Sunday evening.
Robin Lod opened the scoring for the Loons, taking advantage of lax Dallas defending and a poorly handled rebound from goalkeeper Maarten Paes to tap in from close range. Taylor doubled the lead shortly after the break with a stunning strike. The right back allowed a half-cleared corner kick to bounce across his body, taking it on the volley at a difficult angle. His strike skipped across the box through a crowd of bodies, catching Paes short sighted before nestling in the far corner.
Dallas responded immediately through Paul Arriola. The offseason addition cut inside onto his right foot and unleashed a gorgeous curling effort into the top corner. The US international's fifth strike of the season was unstoppable, leaving Minnesota 'keeper Dayne St. Claire helpless as it tore into the net.
With momentum fully shifted their way, Dallas threw everything at the visitors, coming close to an equalizer on multiple occasions. In second half stoppage time, Nanu's cross-shot flashed across the goal, nearly sneaking in at the far post, but missing by inches.
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: Despite the loss, Dallas are still comfortably towards the top of the Western Conference table on 22 points, but are no longer undefeated at Toyota Stadium. Robin Lod became Minnesota's all-time leading scorer in the regular season with 22 goals, and has scored in their last three straight matches.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Paul Arriola's golazo was a memorable moment of quality, and nearly proved to be the turning point for Dallas in a match where they dominated the stat sheet.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: Arriola was a constant danger man, taking three shots and creating four chances. He was rather unfortunate it only resulted in a single goal.
Next up
- DAL: Saturday, May 28 at Orlando City SC | 7:30 pm ET (MLS LIVE on ESPN+)
- MIN: Saturday, May 28 vs New York City FC | 8:00 pm ET (MLS LIVE on ESPN+)
