August 19, 2012
UNCHARTED TERRITORY
FCD win first for club at Rio Tinto

SANDY, Utah---FC Dallas went to Utah and did something they have never done before, beat Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium.

“Since I’ve been coaching I don’t think we’ve ever had a point here,” said FCD coach Schellas Hyndman. “The feeling we had beating RSL going into the [2010] MLS playoffs… that was a great feeling. This is a very difficult place to play. [RDL coach] Jason [Kreis]does a great job with the organization of his team. They always battle. They have fantastic fan support. That brings the best out of them. It feels great; the guys feel great.”

Fabian Castillo changed everything in the 61st minute with a spectacular strike. George John started the play on the right side, winning the ball and passing across to Julian de Guzman. He moved it on to the left side, finding Jair Benitez open. He took a few steps and found Castillo open on the left touchline. He immediately passed off to David Ferreira, who slipped the Panamanian speedster a short through ball. Castillo got past the Real back line and ripped a rising shot from left of the six-yard box. Real goalie Nick Rimando thought Castillo was getting further right and had already left his feet as the ball curled into the far side netting.

“I remember last time we were here, we tied it, and they came right back and scored,” said Hyndman. “We were talking about that not happening again. Similar game… Salt Lake dominated us last time, and we kept on finding ways to get goals. We tied the game, and then Borchers scored. It really gutted us. Especially at that time of the year when we were all hoping for things. Tonight… two good goals by us. We just continued to weather the storm.”

For a while however, Saturday night was starting to look a bit like that last game back in May.

Salt Lake had been testing the Dallas defense all night, and finally equalized in the 76th minute on a goal from Alvaro Saborio. It was set up right after Benitez cleared a ball off the line, giving RSL a corner from the left side. Saborio went high for a header that deflected off the head of Dallas' Hernan Pertuz and slipped in just under the bar.


The winning play, which came in the fourth minute of stoppage time, was possible because RSL was trying so hard to get max points at home. With the claret-clad team pushing up, Brek Shea found space down the left side and passed to Ferreira, wide open at the top of the box. Ferreira slipped inside and hit a screamer from about 15 yards that bent up and inside the right upper '90. There were two RSL defenders in the area, but one was too far to the left and the other was just trying to catch up to Ferreira.

“Jackson did well,” said Shea. “He beat two or three guys and I opened up wide. He played me the ball and I touched it a few times to try and suck the defender in. Then I played it across to David [Ferreira] and he scored a great goal.”

The win was the third straight for FCD, while the loss was the third in row for Salt Lake.

“Obviously it’s important. It gives us dreams, and we’re beating teams in our conference,” said Hyndman. “As I said to the boys, I don’t know how important Real Salt Lake is going to take us, since they don’t really need the points. We’re desperate. We need the points. This is the first time all year we’ve won two games in a row, now three. We’re now in a position where we think we can win. We’re just playing well. We have a tough schedule. The teams we’re playing are tough. What do you look for as a coach? Just to get the best you can out of the players. They’ve given us that all year, even though the results haven’t gone the way we wanted them to go. I’m proud of them for the fact they’ve fought in every game.”