FC Dallas and Jesús Ferreira win the Battle of Texas in Austin

Saturday night FC Dallas faced off against Austin FC for MLS Rivalry week. Both teams have been on somewhat of a struggle bus recently, so this was an important match for both squads. In the end FC Dallas and Jesús Ferreira win the Battle of Texas in Austin after a dramatic late goal from the young star.

The first half of the match was fairly lackluster for the most part. Both teams had a couple of chances, and only one from Austin FC was incredibly dangerous. Maarten Paes had a great diving save which kept the score even with just a few minutes until halftime. If fans hadn’t watched the game and only looked at the halftime stats, they would have thought Austin FC was dominating, but that wasn’t really the case.

The first half of action was significantly more exciting than last weeks 50 minute match against St. Louis City SC that ended up getting postponed due to weather.

In the 54th minute, Austin FC midfielder, Rodney Redes was handed his second yellow card for a red card and was suspended from the rest of the match. With Austin FC playing a man down, it was time for FC Dallas to capitalize with nearly a full half to play with.

That was not the course of action for FC Dallas. They had multiple opportunities to tilt the match in their favor, but shots kept going just wide, or were saved. Paul Arriola had two or three incredible opportunities to make the score 1-0 on his own, but they were all near misses.

There were also a number of through balls to Jesús Ferreira that were just off course to where he couldn’t get a good touch and attempt to put it in the back of the net. You could tell that he was frustrated that things weren’t going his way because he had beat his defender. Luckily, there was one more through ball in the 89th minute that was right on target.

Although there was nine minutes of extra time after the 90 had already been played, the 89th minute proved to be the most important one. FC Dallas had to put a strangle hold on this match with their man advantage, and they nearly let it slip away, but who else but Jesús was there to save the day.

With the win and three points being brought home from the Battle of Texas, FC Dallas is back up to the fourth position in the MLS Western Conference standings. They are only one point back of St. Louis City SC with their match being postponed to a later date.

FC Dallas will be back in action Wednesday night for a home match against Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

FC Dallas and Jesús ferreira win the Battle of Texas in Austin, and are looking to continue their charge up the Western Conference standings.