FRISCO, Texas—An opening-kick temperature of 99 degrees proved advantageous for league leaders FC Dallas on Sunday as they continued on their dominant roll.
The hosts seemed unable to catch a break for the first 55 minutes, missing on countless chances to find the back of the net. But winning the war of attrition and fighting through the Texas heat – something the home team are used to – proved the difference between a scoreless first half and a three-minute stretch that yielded two goals and sent the Whitecaps home rueing a 2-0 result.
“We knew Vancouver would have difficulties coming back in the game, especially with the heat and the way we wanted to keep the ball,” said head coach Oscar Pareja. “We could not score, but we created six clear options to score. In the second half, we asked them to have more urgency in the back. And in 15 minutes, the boys resolved the game.”
Forward Maximiliano Urruti was the biggest conduit of the chances in the opening half, even though all of them turned up empty. He’s fought through a slump this season already and seemed to break out of it of late, and yet the demons reared their ugly heads throughout the opening 45 minutes.
But again, the perseverance paid dividends for Urruti, as he knocked home Dallas’ second goal on a laser strike from right post to left, doubling their advantage.
“I was happier seeing he had the options rather than thinking he missed them,” Pareja said. “I was expecting him to keep creating, because the goal comes when you do. I’m concerned when he’s not creating options. The message to him at half was ‘Keep doing it, the goal is coming. It’s coming.’ And he knows.”
Ryan Hollingshead has been playing up top with Urruti in the midst of the cloudy Fabian Castillo situation, and agreed with Pareja’s take that Urruti’s shot creating is nearly just as valuable as the goals that result.
“It’s obviously a tough job to do, and I feel Maxi has a great percentage," Hollingshead said. "For chances created to shots converted, it’s a small percentage, but even a small percentage can be really good in this league. So having a guy like Maxi creating chances is huge.”
Dallas can sleep easy again tonight, knowing they have a four-point lead in the Supporters' Shield race, have extended their club-best unbeaten streak to 17 games, and knowing the once seemingly-imminent Castillo transfer is now an afterthought.
And while the points in the standings are what Pareja said he was proud of, he said the level of the team’s play is what has him the most ambitious, as the team preps for their CONCACAF Champions League opener on Thursday.
“It’s very important that the players today got a great result in a very difficult climate and get their superiority and dominance that I saw,” Pareja said. “It made me feel very pleased. Today’s performance shows that we’re aiming for great things.”
