All the facts from the big win over Colorado.
FC Dallas picked up their third straight home win on Saturday evening as they downed the Colorado Rapids 3-1.
FC Dallas Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Nico Estévez
General thoughts on the match…
“The first half Colorado [Rapids] were dominating us in every aspect. Their staff was out coaching us in the beginning. It was difficult for us to find a response to their play and it did seem like we had no comeback in us and we would have a rough time. We had an opportunity from a set-piece. We have been practicing this play for quite a while now. To be honest, we would practice the play from a closer range. I want to thank my staff for helping create this play. In the halftime talk, I told the players we had to find a solution because nothing was going our way. My staff made the decision of dropping Edwin [Cerrillo] between our center backs because their wing backs were able to push up and attack those open spaces. I asked Edwin if he was comfortable dropping back and he took on the challenge. At the halftime chat with the team, we talked about the changes we were going to implement and the team understood it was something we had not worked on a lot but they would do their best. In the second half, we still had other issues but we were adjusting those throughout the match. The importance of this match was that we were facing the Supporters’ Shield champions. They are a good team with good players and coaches. We are a team that still needs to improve and we will work to improve. Also, a huge bonus having a team with the mentality that my players have to fight back.”
On the subs success off the bench…
“We had to adjust because we were having issues with our lines and Colorado kept taking advantage of those spaces. We brought on Paul and Franco, Franco helped us hold the ball up at the top so we could go up down the field. In the final play, if Jesús would have squared the ball to Franco he would have had a goal contribution in the match. The team has done an immense job, Paul has done a good job coming off the bench as well and getting out wide. Also Facundo did splendid getting in there and holding possession for us.”
FC Dallas Forward Jesús Ferreira
On what changed from the first half to the second half…
“In the beginning, we knew it was going to be a tough opponent. We knew Colorado was coming in here hungry for points. They were the winners of the Western Conference last year, that was our pre-game speech pretty much. We’ve gotta take it to them, this is our home. The first half didn’t go our way. We had to make some changes and fixed things that weren’t going right. We got back in here (the locker room) and made sure that we took care of it so we could go back outside and get a result.”
On his first goal…
“I think we noticed what we were missing in the first half and that was that connection with our midfield and wingers. You could tell the game changed when we were doing short passes, long passes and just connecting with each other. As a number nine, we always have the goal in the back of our mind so for me it was just ‘touch, turn and hit’ and it went in. I’m just excited and happy with the goals.”
FC Dallas Midfielder Brandon Servania
On his goal…
“It was a very good goal, it has been a while. It was a little rough in the first half but that goal helped shift the momentum. We adjusted and moved things around during the halftime and as you can tell in the second half we did a whole lot better. It was a massive win for us.”
On the family’s influence on the goal…
“I saw it (North Carolina FC midfielder and brother Jaden Servania’s goal) on SportsCenter. It was awesome to see my brother score that goal. Obviously on the family group chat he was talking mad about it and I told him it would be my turn eventually. I had to match his goal.”