Two time US Open Cup winners FC Dallas moved into the Fourth Round of the tournament with a 2-1 win over FC Tulsa at Toyota Stadium on Tuesday night.
“The players were on edge, they gave a lot and I think they deserve a lot of credit,” said FC Tulsa head coach Michael Nsien. “You see some of the guys that played 90 minutes were going nonstop and were spent after the match. It is hard to take moral victories because we are professionals and we are competitive people, but in terms of what game speed is supposed to look like, I think we’ve seen today what we expect from our players, and we just need that continuity now.”
Franco Jara opened the scoring for the hosts just after the half hour from the penalty spot. The Argentine was felled by a clumsy challenge by Johnny Fenwick, before rolling the ball calmly down the middle of the goal.
Schön ➡️ Jáder with ease.pic.twitter.com/LcBrPCy44K
— FC Dallas 🙂 (@FCDallas) April 20, 2022
The lead would only hold for ten minutes. Rodrigo da Costa sent in a corner, flicked on by Ronald Rodriguez, wasn’t dealt with by Lucas Bartlett in the Dallas back line. After a couple of stabs at the ball by the rookie, Bradley Bourgeois swiped the ball home from inside the six yard box.
Tulsa threatened a vastly changed FC Dallas side, pressing high and playing positively.
“I like what they proposed,” said FC Dallas head coach Nico Estevez. “They tried to play, they have tools and resources to build from the back, and it makes it more difficult when a team wants to come here to play because you have to be worried about how you’re going to press and win the ball.”
Jader Obrian restored FC Dallas’ lead in the 66th minute. Szabolcs Schon broke down the left, crossing from deep for Obrian to meet at the back post with an acrobatic volley.
Jimmy Maurer, a veteran of the New York Cosmos teams that knocked out New York Red Bulls and New York City FC in back to back Open Cup seasons, was called into action early by Joaquin Rivas. Brian Brown should have restored parity in the 71st minute, with the hosts again struggling at a set-piece, but the substitute could not control his close range header.
Papa Obrian pic.twitter.com/B6GGAF4hN6
— FC Dallas 🙂 (@FCDallas) April 20, 2022
The MLS side began to bring in more familiar faces with the likes of US Men’s National Team striker Jesus Ferreira and franchise record signing Alan Velasco.
Ferreira – tied for leading scorer in Major League Soccer – had the ball in the net in the final minute, finishing off a pass from Jader Obrian, but the former Tulsa Roughnecks loanee was judged to be offside.
FC Dallas wins their opening round game in the tournament for the eighth year in a row. With the victory they advance to take on Sporting Kansas City on the road on May 11.
