FRISCO, Texas—Even without rising star forward Fabian Castillo, FC Dallas found their offense Saturday night.
Questions arose around FC Dallas as to who would step in for Castillo
while he trains in Colombia for the U-20 World Cup, but there was no
questioning the team offense as they thrashed the Portland Timbers, 4-0,
at Pizza Hut Park.
“I think all of our players really stepped up tonight,” said FC Dallas
head coach Schellas Hyndman in his postgame press conference. “I think
everybody had a good game, and I think we need those type of
performances to continue to get those three points.”
WATCH: Schellas Hyndman post-game press conference
FC Dallas had 21 shot attempts—10 of which were on-goal—and they kept
the Timbers in their defensive third consistently throughout the 90
minutes.
Hyndman made two changes for FC Dallas and the results were
instantaneous.
In his first change, he shifted free-kick duties duties from Marvin
Chavez to captain Daniel Hernandez, who had two assists on corner kicks
after finding Zach Loyd and George John in the first half.
Loyd’s 33rd-minute goal was the first of his MLS career, and five
minutes later John muscled past forward Kenny Cooper to score his second
of the 2011 campaign.
“There are dangerous players on set-pieces that we haven’t taken
advantage of,” Hernandez told reporters after the game. “I was just glad
to get them some services tonight.”
WATCH: Daniel Hernandez post-game interview
In his second change, Hyndman moved Jackson to midfield, which provided
the Brazilian with more confidence as an attacker in FCD’s 4-5-1
formation. Jackson almost scored his second goal in as many weeks,
though his long-range shot was headed over the line by Home Grown player
Robert Luna.
“He was a player that when we brought him from Brazil, he was a
midfielder,” stated Hyndman. “Probably his best position is flank
midfield and tonight he really showed it.”
Jackson roamed freely, both from the left and the right of midfield,
oftentimes switching sides with opposite player Brek Shea.
“There were several guys that had really excellent games tonight,” Hernandez said. “I thought, as a whole, we all played a great game and we just kept putting pressure on Portland. It’s a tough place to play with the heat and I thought everybody that participated did a great job.”
The last time FC Dallas scored more than three goals was on Sept. 12,
2009, when they netted six goals against the LA Galaxy.
“Determination was our key word tonight,” added Hyndman. “We had to be
more determined than they were.”