All the facts from FC Dallas’ big road win in Minnesota.
FC Dallas picked up possibly their biggest road win of the season to date as they downed Minnesota United 3-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Head Coach Nico Estévez
The message to the team at halftime…“In the first half, we controlled the possession, but we didn’t create goal-scoring opportunities. We created one with Jesús (Ferreira) that was cleared but all of our crosses and all of our situations where we were arriving didn’t help us to create a clear chance. We identified a lot of space in between the lines and if you receive the ball there, you can play quickly behind. If there’s no space, just make more runs in behind. In the second half, we were more aggressive with the runs in behind and we were able to hurt Minnesota.”
On Jesús Ferreira’s progression after scoring his 16th goal of the year…“He’s doing a great job with his transition to playing at the No. 9 for the club, which he wasn’t playing before. I think he’s doing well because you could see he’s a special forward. The qualities that he has, few forwards have those qualities in the world. He can be a link-up player, he understands the buildup, he can get out of high pressure. He also has those runs in behind, he’s faster than some people think. He has a special feeling of when to run in behind and to attack the opponent’s back line. When he’s in front of goal, he does it very well and can score goals. He’s a very complete player but needs to keep growing in certain areas, as any player of his age. But he’s in a good moment and I’m happy with what he’s doing for the club and the national team.”
On Sebastian Lletget’s contributions since joining the club…“It’s always good to have your birthday on a game day and get a win. The feeling is different because he has his family here and he’s going to celebrate with them. I’m really happy that he can do that. On the game side, he’s evolving and understanding what we want from him in that position (midfield). He already had some knowledge of it, but there were little things in his positioning and height and what he was doing that he’s improving every week. You can see it today, when we talk about Lletget in the last third he has quality. He can produce assists and arrive in the box. Today he showed a couple really good actions besides the assists where he put his teammates in position to score.”
Midfielder Sebastian Lletget
On getting the win at Allianz Field…“In my time playing in this stadium, it has always been one of the toughest places to go. So to come here and win 3-0, to put in the performance that the guys did, I’m so proud of them.”
On his assists and adapting to quickly to FC Dallas…“I wish I could say it’s me but it’s honestly my teammates, they have been amazing. They’ve embraced me and it makes things so much easier. We found that connection at certain times, you know, so they make it easier on me.”
On getting the win on his birthday…“I guess hopefully I get better with age. It feels amazing. It’s everything, it’s the only gift I really wanted to be honest with you. I was so focused on this game. I know we needed it, I knew how important it was. And yeah, it’s just a great gift.”
Forward Jesús Ferreira
On approaching the goal record of 18 in a season…“It feels amazing. That’s something that I’ve always thought about, and especially this year that it’s so close. I just want to keep working hard and helping the team, and those goals will come with time.”
On Sebastian Lletget joining the team and his quick success…“Yeah, we know that Sebastian is a player that wants a lot and he wants to achieve things with a team. And so it makes it easier to play with a guy that has the same goals as us and we’re just happy to have him on our team.”
On winning at Allianz Field…“It means a lot. We knew that coming here that it was going to be huge three points and that we needed to it wasn’t a soccer game. It was going to be a war. And so I think the team went out there and performed the best that we could.”