Rescind Blas Perez’s red card. It’s not much of a request and more of demand. But if you’re intent on providing justice it will happen. There was no intent by Blas on the play. Was it a bit reckless? Yes. Was it his first offense Sunday night? Yes. Did it have some unfortunate timing? Sure. Daniel Hernandez had been sent off just seconds beforehand. Did Blas turn away to shield himself exactly when he saw Drew Moor barreling in? Yes, as did Drew Moor when he looked away from the ball and saw Blas. Neither player wanted that collision, nor intended on it happening. If intent is to mean anything, Perez will be available for Wednesday night.
It’s an easy week for game analysis for Dallas. Two red cards within the first 35 minutes gave us 60 minutes of shelling from Colorado Sunday night. Surprisingly, Colorado couldn’t crack the Dallas back line until the 60th minute. As the ball hit the back of the net there was this collective exasperated sigh emitted from the stands in Frisco; sort of an acknowledgement that we all knew it was going to happen. It was inevitable. But that didn’t mean Kevin Hartman and the seven in the outfield didn’t acquit themselves valiantly – they were the collective epitome of courage.
“I was really proud about how much they gave,” said Hyndman. “I mean look at Jair [Benítez] attacking, defending, attacking, defending and until you really play the game you don’t realize how much space you have to cover.”
It was all left on the field, indeed. Even James Marcelin, who had only been in Dallas a matter of three days, contributed to a side under harsh circumstances. The fans were in on it as well, prodding and encouraging the few along to hold out for the draw, despite the rough odds. I do recall turning on the LA v. New England match earlier in the season, when the Galaxy went down 3-0, and could see fans pouring out of the HDC. That wasn’t the case even after the definitive second goal of the match Sunday night; the fans in Frisco remained as steadfast as the men on the pitch. It is difficult not to be proud of a collective, unifying showing such as that.
The utterly laughable part of MLS postgame analysis was seeing something roughly on the MLS website to the tune of ‘Colorado dominates possession.’ There is just not much to pull from 35 minutes of actual soccer. Needless to say, the MLS disciplinary committee’s decision on this issue will be telling and impactful for Wednesday night’s game against Seattle. As Coach Hyndman pointed out last week, Dallas has played nine matches and used nine different rosters. Call-ups, injuries, and sending-offs have all played their part in that infrequency. The match against the Rapids was number ten; Seattle will be number eleven. Due to these circumstances this may be yet another season where Dallas hits its stride in the middle of the season, as they did in 2010, and finishes strong rolling into the postseason. Time will tell. Until then, the men in the locker room and the supporters can only pray for some good fortune to head FCD’s way during May.
(image courtesy of fcdallas.com)
