FC Dallas had an opportunity to clinch a first-round home game with a win over Colorado on October 1 but could not hold off an aggressive, offensive effort by the Rapids, losing 1-0. The loss largely takes playoff positioning out of FC Dallas’s hands, with the season’s final game ahead next weekend.
“We knew it was going to be a difficult game playing against a Colorado (Rapids) team that has a good record at home,” said head coach Nico Estevez after the match. “Their unbeaten streak at home is now at eight. Playing at a high altitude, playing on a new pitch made it difficult for the players on both teams to play the game the best way. Playing on the road in Colorado has not been the best, and the record shows it. The line between winning and losing is very thin.”
FC Dallas had a few opportunities in the game to score points but narrowly missed on every opportunity. Probably the best chance came at the 52-minute mark. The FC Dallas offense had pushed Colorado back when Paxton Pomykal sent a low crossing pass to Jesus Ferreira. Ferreira took a hooking shot at the far top corner, but the ball caught the crossbar and deflected out.
At the 90-minute point, Sebastian Lletget sent a perfect cross that went directly in front of both Matt Hedges and Jose Martinez without either player being able to make contact. While Colorado took more shots and had more shots on goal in the game, Dallas held possession for nearly 60 percent of the match.
Estevez said that the team’s mentality would be the same next week as it was this week — get a win and earn three points.
“We have to wait for the results of the other games today and tomorrow to see what position we finish,” Estevez said. “But for us, we want to make it ourselves and not wait on other results. We came here with the mentality to win and we didn’t do it and now our game at home, in front of our fans and families, we’ll have the right mentality against Kansas City.”
With the loss, Dallas holds at 50 points, five behind second-place Austin but only three ahead of both Nashville and LA Galaxy. If Dallas loses against Kansas City and either Nashville or LA wins on Decision Day, the result could see FC Dallas slip to fourth and lose an opportunity at a home game for the playoffs.
“You know, you feel devastated but, again, we have to remember that, thankfully, we have another chance, you know, to at least give ourselves the best chance next weekend,” Lletget said. “I thought we had better chances than them but, on the day, I think we weren’t as sharp as they were. We knew this place is always historically tough to go to but, you know…yeah…we’re pretty upset with ourselves.”
Sporting Kansas City will visit North Texas for the 2022 finale. Kansas City has already been eliminated from playoff competition but can play spoiler by collecting the win and forcing Dallas to hope for losses and ties from teams creeping up in the standings.
