Logan Farrington’s first professional goal proved to be enough to help hosts FC Dallas take down USL Championship side Memphis 901 FC to advance to the Round of 16 of the 2024 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. Farrington came off the bench in the second half and provided the ultimate spark as he got on the end of a Jesus Ferreira free kick and made the most of his chance.
Farrington was thrilled to make his mark on the tournament, but also tempered expectations after the match.
“It’s fantastic being able to score my first goal in this tournament and feeling the warmth and support of our fans after the goal. It’s amazing but it’s only the first step and we have more challenges ahead of us.”
It was the 37th US Open Cup win for FC Dallas in club history, which moves them into a tie for third place in the tournament’s Modern Era (1995-present) with the Seattle Sounders FC (who play on Wednesday night) and the LA Galaxy who did not enter the competition this year.
Dallas set the tone early, earning a corner kick in just the second minute. Katlego Ntsabeleng had arguably the best chance of the half in the 13th minute, but his point blank shot inside the box was deflected out for a corner; which Dallas failed to capitalize on.
Memphis came back with their best chance in the 22nd minute when Marlon Dos Santos Prezeres found himself in space inside the Dallas penalty box but his shot went over the crossbar.
Frustration began to set in for the home side as Dallas picked up back-to-back yellow cards in the 41st and 43rd minutes. Dallas finally picked up their first shot on goal in first half stoppage time, but Nkosi Tafari’s header was hit right at Memphis goalkeeper Tyler Deric.
Dallas wasted no time applying pressure in the second half, earning a corner kick in the 49th minute. Three minutes later, Petar Musa found himself 1-on-1 with Deric, but his chip went over the bar. Memphis responded immediately with a close range shot from Luiz Fernando Nascimento that went just wide of the goal. Both sides made multiple substitutions to try and shake things up in the 65th minute and the visitors from Memphis were able to quickly earn a corner kick, but ultimately couldn’t convert.
Dallas finally broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute. Ferreira whipped in a free kick towards the back post and Farrington needed just one touch to settle the ball and fire past the keeper for the goal. Memphis immediately came back to force back-to-back corner kicks at the other end but could not take advantage. Dallas maintained their hold over the game and Musa managed to conjure multiple shots on goal in the final 10 minutes, but failed to double his team’s advantage. In the end it wouldn’t matter though, as Dallas secured the 1-0 win to move on to the next round.
Dallas head coach Nico Estevez commended his team’s adjustments at halftime to help turn the tide.
“I think the adjustments we made at halftime, offensively and defensively, helped us to be more of a threat and aggressive. At the end, we couldn’t score more goals, and this is why it’s very important to score the first goal. It was late for us, but I think we gained good experience and now we have to recover and get ready for Austin (next league match).”
Dallas will hit the road in the Round of 16 to take on the winner of Birmingham Legion and Tampa Bay Rowdies.