Two Western Conference foes with recent good form — FC Dallas and the San Jose Earthquakes — gutted out a result, playing to a 0-0 draw on a warm Saturday afternoon at Toyota Stadium in Frisco.
The first half was played fairly evenly, with each team getting a few prime chances but not being able to convert. Reggie Cannon saw his 39th-minute shot go just wide of the target to help the end of the first half. A minute later, the Quakes had their best chance of the half when Cristian Espinoza got free in front of goal. Jesse Gonzalez parried away his attempt and dealt with the Shea Salinas putback.
The match continued scoreless throughout the second half. FC Dallas had a prime 70th-minute chance to break the deadlock, courtesy of Dominique Badji, a halftime sub for Paxton Pomykal, who made a run and served up a would-be assist to Michael Barrios. Barrios slid in front of goal to meet the ball, but it squirted past him and out of danger.
The Quakes went full kitchen sink toward the end of the match to try to grab all three road points. They put MLS fans on Wondo Watch by inserting Chris Wondolowski to seek his record-tying 145th league goal, and then put on Vako for center back Harold Cummings as a late sub. Though the moves generated some good looks, the ball stayed out of the goal for the remainder of the match.
Goals
- None
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: For Dallas, the home result takes a bit of the shine off their prior four-wins-in-five-matches run, but 13 out of the last 18 possible points isn't too shabby. Next week, though, they'll face a stern test in Houston for the first Texas Derby of the season. San Jose continue to look like they're learning and growing under new head coach Matias Almeyda — they've now got four results in their last five matches after their rough early season start.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Wondolowski got a head on the dangerous free kick by Espinoza in the third minute of extra time, but nudged it just wide of the target — and with that chance snuffed out, the tenor of the match changed from "maybe there's a late goal here" to an acceptance of a scoreless draw. (It would have been a special moment, too.)
- MAN OF THE MATCH: Of the two goalkeepers, Gonzalez dealt with the most down the stretch, and at the end of the day, kept his side's 2019 home unbeaten record rolling.
Next Up
- DAL: Saturday, May 4 at Houston Dynamo (4 pm ET | Univision, Twitter in the US; MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada)
- SJ: Saturday, May 4 vs. FC Cincinnati (10 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ and on DAZN in Canada)
