El Capitán, the replica 18th-century mountain howitzer awarded to the winner of the Texas Derby, will return to Dallas after spending a year in Houston. FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo FC played for the second time on Saturday and fought to a 2-2 draw after nearly 105-minutes of play.
In April, FC Dallas defeated Houston, giving Dallas the better record for the season and bringing home the trophy that has been an integral part of the Texas Derby tradition since 2006. Dallas last held El Capitán from 2018 to 2020.
Game-time high temperatures didn’t dampen the action. FC Dallas was the first to get on the board with a Matt Hedges goal at the 27-minute mark. Alan Velasco hit a far-side corner kick that arced over the center of the box. Hedges beat a defender and got his head on the ball to knock in the go-ahead goal.
“From the start, we knew it would be a very difficult match,” head coach Nico Estevez said in a post-game interview. “We had to make a change 20 minutes into the match, and the weather today was so hot that it made it difficult for our players. It is not easy at all to play in these kinds of conditions for both teams.”
The change was the decision to sit starting forward Tsiki Ntsabeleng in favor of Brandon Servania after only 26-minutes of play.
The bulk of the match was a back-and-forth affair as neither team generated significant pressure on goal until Houston Dynamo FC caught a lucky break at the 69-minute point.
A Houston crossing kick was taken on a side kick from the top of the box but was deflected from a Dallas player to a Houston player before being struck down to the turf by Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes. The block bounced directly to Houston Dynamo FC forward Thorleifur Úlfarsson, whose shot careened off the bottom of the top crossbar and bounced into the net.
Houston had a goal taken off the board at the 82-minute mark after officials determined that the Houston player was offsides as the ball came into play. The reprieve invigorated FC Dallas, who rallied and added the go-ahead score three minutes into bonus time.
Jesus Ferreira scored his 11th goal of the season after FC Dallas took a fast break into Houston territory and set up the two-on-one. Neither the Houston defender nor goalkeeper Michael Nelson could get a finger on the blazing shot.
Ferreira is now tied for second in the running for the 2022 MLS Golden Boot award. He trails New York City FC’s Valentin Castellanos, who has 12 goals this season.
FC Dallas’ Marco Farfan suffered a head injury in a collision during the game. The injury appears to be serious and may result in Farfan missing time.
“Marco suffered a severe cut near his mouth from the collision,” said Estevez. “He lost consciousness and memory in that play. He is stable now, and he is heading to hospital to get scans done. We will go from there, and we will see what the outcome of his scans are.”
Though the game appeared to be in hand for FC Dallas, Houston managed to score well into bonus time, tying the match with a goal at the 101-minute mark. The score came off a blocked shot by Paes, but Dallas defenders didn’t hustle to the ball, giving Houston forward Teenage Hadabe an opportunity to step over and deflect the block to earn the late tie.
Dallas will show down at home against New York City FC on Wednesday, giving Ferreira and Castellanos an opportunity to go head-to-head for the Golden Boot.