Jesus Ferreira and Alan Velasco scored to highlight a three-goal outburst over a four-minute span early in the second half as FC Dallas moved into third place in the Western Conference with a 3-0 victory over Minnesota United on Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.
Maarten Paes made two saves for FC Dallas (12-8-10, 46 points), which also snapped a six-game winless streak (0-4-2) against Minnesota United. Sebastian Lletget added two assists for the Toros.
Dayne St. Clair finished with one save for the Loons (13-11-5, 44 points) who played the final 21-plus minutes with just 10 men when forward Franco Fragapane garnered a red card after picking up his second yellow card in the contest.
FC Dallas took a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute on an own-goal by Minnesota defender Michael Boxall, who redirected Paul Arriola’s cross from right side of the box into the right side of the goal.
Velasco made it 2-0 just a minute later with his sixth goal of the season off a Lletget pass, drilling a curling right-footed shot from outside the box past a diving St. Clair and into the right corner of the net.
Two minutes later, Velasco hit the crossbar with another right-footed shot from outside the box. Lletget gathered the rebound on the right wing and then fired a crossing pass into the middle of the box that Ferreira headed past St. Clair for his 16th goal of the season.
Both teams had a pair of good scoring chances during a scoreless first half.
All-Star midfielder Emanuel Reynoso, who left early in the second half with a right ankle injury, had Minnesota United’s two best chances, the first in the 13th minute on a left-footed shot in the middle of the box that Paes stopped with his waist. Four minutes later, Reynoso blasted a rising shot from just outside the box that sailed over the crossbar.
FC Dallas had a good chance to take the lead in the 20th minute but midfielder Arriola’s left-footed shot from outside the box curled just wide of the right post. Ferreira had the half’s best scoring opportunity in the 35th minute but his right-footed toe-poke of a Lletget cross in the middle of the box sailed wide past the right post.
–Field Level Media
