Union blanked by FC Dallas
A hot Dallas team extended its season-opening winning streak to three with a 2-0 win over the Union.
Before Saturday, all three matches at PPL Park between the Union and FC Dallas had ended with neither team able to escape with a win.
That ended Saturday, however, as Dallas extended its season-opening winning streak to three (3-0-0) with a 2-0 win over the Union.
Still in search of their first victory of the 2015 season, the Union (0-1-2) have never beaten FC Dallas in eight attempts (0-3-5).
The Union's chances for victory were compromised when midfielder Zack Pfeffer exited after drawing a red card for what appeared to be an elbow to the head of Mauro Diaz in the 41st minute of a scoreless game.
"The red card happens and, a credit to Dallas because they outplayed us from that point on," Union manager Jim Curtin said. "Any time you are going to play down a man . . . for about 50 or 60 minutes, it is going to be difficult."
Pfeffer, who was flashed the red immediately after what was clearly an infraction, was somewhat perplexed by his quick ejection, explaining later to his teammates that there was no intent on his part.
"I was just going so fast, and he kind of slipped a little bit," Pfeffer explained. "He kind of slipped a little bit, and I think it looked a lot worse than it was. But there was no intent. It's a shame because I thought we were playing pretty good at the time."
That changed almost instantly at the start of the second half.
Dallas scored the decisive goal in the 49th minute, when midfielder Tesho Akindele beat Union keeper Rais M'bolhi. Akindele pounced on an error by defender Fabio Alves and finished with a score to the far post.
Ten minutes later, the Western Conference leaders struck again, this time with Fabian Castillo feeding Ryan Hollingshead.
Saturday's game marked the second time in three weeks the Union have been shut out.
@JmitchInquirer