If FC Dallas hope to continue their current surge — and extend Nashville SC’s recent misery — they must do so without one of the best players in MLS.
With star Jesus Ferreira on a yellow-card suspension, visiting Dallas aims for a season-high third straight victory while looking to push Nashville’s winless stretch to a club-record seven matches on Sunday night.
Ferreira scored his 15th league goal during Wednesday’s 1-0 home triumph over Philadelphia. It was the fourth victory in six matches for FC Dallas (11-7-9, 42 points), but also proved costly with Ferreira picking up his fifth yellow card of the season — forcing him to sit out this contest.
“The way we play is much bigger than one specific player,” teammate Paul Arriola, second on the club with nine goals, told The Dallas Morning News. “Obviously, Jesus is such a key player for our team. But we have guys who are hungry. … It’s just another way for us to show we’re more than one player (at) FC Dallas.”
Perhaps 20-year-old MLS rookie Alan Velasco will step up into a larger role for this contest. He scored the first of his four MLS goals during Dallas’ 2-0 home victory over Nashville on March 12.
Dallas will also try for a third straight win over Nashville (8-9-9, 33 points), which entered the weekend below the playoff line in the West.
Nashville is 0-3-3 overall since a 1-0 victory over Seattle on July 13, and 0-3-1 at home following that triumph. Nashville conceded a 75th-minute, tiebreaking goal during last weekend’s 2-1 home defeat to Minnesota United FC — marking the first time the club has ever dropped back-to-back home matches.
Nashville also went six straight matches without a win (0-1-5) last season.
“We are in a difficult spell where it doesn’t seem like anything is going right,” Nashville captain Dax McCarty said. “The only thing that is going to bring us out of this is character.”
Though it’s been rough of late for Nashville, star Hany Mukhtar is right behind Ferreira with 14 goals this season. Mukhtar has scored eight times in his past nine league matches.
–Field Level Media
