Going into this game, the Seattle Sounders probably would have reluctantly taken a point. After the lineups came out -- with five of their best players missing -- a point suddenly seemed like highway robbery. Yet, here we are heading home with a point and feeling ... underwhelmed? Frustrated? Annoyed?
Why? Because the Sounders had 75 minutes to find a goal against 10 men and couldn't do it. They had chances, at least three very good ones and probably four or five legit looks. Chad Barrett was the most obvious offender, missing an open header and then failing to convert a one-on-one chance.
But the reality was this was a pretty ugly game, not something you want to show that friend of yours that is kinda on the fence about this soccer thing. So, watch the highlights if you must, but let's not share these, shall we?
Scoring Summary:NONE
FC Dallas - Chris Seitz, Kellyn Acosta, Matt Hedges, Zach Loyd, Atiba Harris, Fabian Castillo, Victor Ulloa, Michel, Ryan Hollingshead (Michael Barrios 86), Tesho Akindele, David Texeira (Walker Zimmerman 59).
Substitutes Not Used: Jesse Gonzalez, Otis Earle, Alejandro Zendejas, Stephen Keel, Danny Garcia.
Total Shots: 4 (Hollingshead, Castillo, Michel, Zimmerman 1) Shots on Goal: 0; Fouls: 6 (Atiba Harris 3); Offsides: 0; Corners: 4 (Michel 4); Saves: 0 (Chris Seitz 0).
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei, Brad Evans, Zach Scott, Tyrone Mears, Leo Gonzalez, Andy Rose, Cristian Roldan (Aaron Kovar 61), Michael Azira (Oneil Fisher 86), Gonzalo Pineda, Lamar Neagle, Chad Barrett (Victor Mansaray 75).
Substitutes Not Used: Dylan Remick, Troy Perkins, Jimmy Ockford.
Total Shots: 7 (Michale Azira 4) Shots on Goal: 0; Fouls: 14 (Chad Barrett 2); Offsides: 1 (Gonzalo Pineda 1); Corners: 7 (Gonzalo Pineda 5); Saves: 0 (Stefan Frei 0).
Misconduct Summary: DAL - Kellyn Acosta (ejection) 18
DAL - Walker Zimmerman (caution) 80
SEA - Michael Azira (caution) 84
SEA - Leo Gonzalez (caution) 90+2
Referee: Kevin Scott
Referee's Assistants: Craig Lowry, Brian Poeschel
Fourth Official: Kevin Terry Jr.
Weather: Sunny, 79 degrees
Attendance: 18,333
Time of game: 1:51
Seattle Sounders FC Head Coach Sigi SchmidOn tonight's game...Obviously, I'm pleased we played to zero at the back. A lot of people think with a man advantage maybe you should get more out of the game, but the way Dallas plays, playing a man down doesn't impact their game because they play for free kicks and they play a lot of long passes through to (Fabian) Castillo and try to run, so having one less man doesn't affect how they play. I thought we did a good job on Castillo tonight. I thought we had three really good chances in the second half. We need to score one of those three. If we score one of those three then we're walking away with three points tonight.
His expectations for tonight's game with so many players out...To win the game. Expectations are always that we'll win the game. We have a lot of confidence in our young players, (Christian) Roldan gets his first start tonight, (Aaron) Kovar gets minutes off the bench, first game for Victor (Mansaray), first game for Oneil (Fisher), and I thought the guys did really well. Victor almost got the assist on the goal.
On his team's defensive performance...I thought they played well. I thought they were good. I thought they were conscientious about making sure they doubled when Castillo had the ball. I thought Tyrone Mears did a good job for us, defensively. Zach Scott stepped in and played very well. For Brad (Evans) it was a big game because of the fact that he lays the blame on himself for the other game, but it shows his character and what he's all about.
On defending FC Dallas free kicks...I thought we did alright because they've got a lot of big guys, and they brought (Walker) Zimmerman in so they got another big body in there towards the end. They live and die for their free kicks. Michel is pretty good at drawing fouls. I think the first foul he drew in the game he was actually smiling as he fell. They are dangerous on that and they live for that, and I thought we did a good job of staying with our marks and getting the ball cleared out. Some balls are going to fall in there and you just have to be first to those second balls.
Seattle Sounders FC Goalkeeper Stefan FreiOn tonight's game...A clean sheet is definitely good, and I thought the other positive to take from it is we stayed patient through the game. Sometimes, when you're up a man, you push for that goal so hard you get a little bit out of control, and I think that would have played into their hand because they've got pace up top that could have been quite dangerous. We were really patient, which is good, and able to carve out a couple of chances. Unfortunately, we weren't able to put them away, but overall, good game. Defensively, in the run of play, I don't think they had but one good chance, other than that nothing.
On the new faces in tonight's lineup...It's great. You see some guys getting their first professional starts, first professional appearances, and you see why they're here. They're here for a reason. We don't have guys on the squad just as fillers, they're all here for a reason, and I think it's a positive that we can take home and it's going to help us build the rest of the season in case someone does go down we have that quality to fill in the spots and the quality isn't going to drop.
Seattle Sounders FC Defender Brad EvansOn tonight's game...I think, overall, something that we can build off of. It would have been different if we wouldn't have created any chances, it wouldn't be as positive, but early on in the season the mindset changes and it's a good point on the road and we put that in our back pocket and move to the home game next week. If it's an end of the year game and we're fighting, we've obviously got to throw forward. So the dynamic changes, tactics change, where you're at in the season, personnel, things like that. Overall, happy with the performance. Kept it to zero, most important thing. At the end of the day, we had chances to win and that's the bottom line.
On the new faces in tonight's lineup...
It's difficult to get your first start in MLS in your first year, in the third game, away from home, against the best team in the league right now. Roldan did very well, held possession for us, pushed forward, worked hard defensively. You can't ask for anything more. As he gets his feet underneath him, the game gets easier and slows down a little bit, you'll see better things form him. Mansaray almost got his first assist so there's something to be said about the young guys coming in and making a statement in the game against Tijuana. They showed that they could do it at a high level so they're rewarded with play.
FC Dallas head coach Oscar ParejaOverall thoughts on the match...It was a colorful game. There were a lot of things that still belong to the game that are frustrating, especially when you see your team playing the way they did and the way we were going in the half. After the red card, the boys showed one more time what they are made of and what we are doing here. That's what I want to recognize today. Tactically we were phenomenal. We keep moving on. We keep moving forward. Obviously we wanted to gift our fans the three points tonight but they found something else. They found character. They found a team that is fighting for this franchise and for the fans. That sometimes is victory.
On the crowd recognition Ryan Hollingshead received when he exited the game...
One thing I recognized 16 years ago when I came to this country was that, in America, we come and work. The honesty and integrity to work hard first for a team is a must-have in a teammate. That recognition is high for the fans and my players know it. I know [the fans] saw an organized team that tried to win the game - they didn't sit back. They tried to win the game. The recognition today was for that character and hard work. I have to say, I am very proud of what the boys have done today.
On Seattle's second-half scoring opportunities...
It would be very unfair if I pretended playing with 10 [players] for three-quarters of the game, we would not give away one or two chances. It's almost impossible not to.
FC Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz
On his third shutout of the season...
It feels good for us to go into these types of games at home... when we play we have one goal: to get three points. When you go down a man as early as we did, we needed to stay compact and pick our times to go forward. Credit to our guys for going forward and our defense who worked hard to keep it at zero.
When asked about Acosta's red card...
I did not see it at all... I spoke to Kellyn [Acosta] about it afterwards. At the end of the day, it was two guys going for a challenge. He went for it and I guess we are going to have to watch the video on it. We moved forward and the guys responded unbelievably to being a man down...to get points at home while going down a man early is crucial for us.
On the upcoming road trip at Portland...
We are back on the road again... for us, we have a second test on the road this year. We just got back from playing an away game. It is a tough place to play and it is a Western Conference game. We are going out there knowing we are playing a good team. We have to go and push forward with our momentum. We will go there playing as if we were at home.
FC Dallas midfielder Michel
When asked about his free kicks opportunities and the placement of free kicks...
Most of today's free kicks were from distance. It was difficult to make an opportunity from that. I had a close one...it hit the crossbar... but we have great quality when we have close-distance free kicks. We had great opportunities. Our players move very well in the box and overall, we did great considering the situation.
When asked about Acosta's red card...
I saw what happened but I was somewhat far away from the tackle... He went in a little bit late. I thought a yellow would have been much more reasonable than getting a straight red card but I have to congratulate our team on the efforts we put in after being a man down. The team played hard for 80 minutes. We had a chance to win this game. Seattle had a good back line and they kept it at zero.
When asked about the next away game at Portland...
We need to go over there playing with the same mentality and strategy we use here at our home games. Oscar [Pareja] will prepare us during the week. We will try and continue our strong start to the season.
FC Dallas forward Tesho Akindele
When asked about Acosta's red card...
I did not get a good view of the actual tackle. I'm not sure if the tackle was deserving of a red or yellow card.
When asked about the overall performance of the attacking front...
We did fantastic. Our jobs changed a bit because we went down a man. Everyone put a good shift in defensively and offensively. We had great chances up top so overall we did well.
On the team's mentality going into Portland...
We are going to treat it like any other game. We are going to attack them and use our speed. We are going in with the mentality of winning another game.