FC Dallas vs. Sounders, recap: Poor road form continues

The Seattle Sounders hoped to gallop out of Texas with three more points on Saturday, but the home side continued their excellent home form and held the Sounders off 2-0. In a match that could have truly gone either way, FC Dallas managed to squeak out the win through Mauro Diaz's early penalty and then added a late insurance goal from a Michael Barrios breakaway.

Seattle had the first of many chances in the match almost immediately after kickoff, when Herculez Gomez latched onto a through ball from Erik Friberg; Gomez got behind the defense but his touch took him a little wide and his went through the box but missed the frame. Both sides had plenty of chances for the rest of the first half; Seattle's best came from a great run by Joevin Jones, whose shot hit goalkeeper Chris Seitz and popped out just wide of goal.

Friberg continued to look like Seattle's most creative player as he put multiple teammates in with through balls, as well as an excellent cross that Jordan Morris headed right at Seitz. Despite all the wonderful opportunities, Seattle just couldn't manage any dangerous shots from the chances. Stefan Frei, probably Seattle's man of the match, had a number of glorious saves that kept Seattle in the match. Frei was also very vigilant off his line, sprinting out of the box a few times to rescue his defense from the quick Dallas attackers. There wasn't much Frei could do on either goal, as Diaz roofed his penalty and Barrios was in alone.

Most of the second half was as open as the first, but at a noticeably slower pace. Not as many chances were created by both sides, but those that were created were fairly dangerous. Seattle had a few dangerous spells of possession in and around the Dallas box, including a couple from Andreas Ivanschitz after he entered the match for Gomez.

Just as Seattle had started to get its attacking groove after making some attacking substitutions, FC Dallas struck what would be the killing blow after former Sounder Mauro Rosales put in an excellent ball over the Seattle defense for Michael Barrios, who latched on and finished it well.

Seattle tried to push for the last 10 minutes or so of the match, but they simply couldn't break through an FC Dallas team that is very strong, especially at home. Going down early was fatal for Seattle, and their opponents did well to control the game and defend when necessary. Despite the many chances created, the Sounders' poor finishing meant that they never got back into the match and eventually limped to a 2-0 loss.