FC Dallas vs. Chicago Fire
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 20
Toyota Stadium — Frisco
July 14 - 7 pm ET
WATCH: ESPN+
FC Dallas look to extend a home unbeaten streak to 11 games and hold off challenges from LAFC and Sporting Kansas City to remain atop the Western Conference standings when they face a Chicago Fire side that is coming off a last-second home loss to the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday night
FC Dallas are also looking to bounce back from defeat, losing, 2-0, at Real Salt Lake last Saturday.
- Stejskal: FCD HG set for loan to Bayern Munich
- Chicago Fire acquire Argentine center back
- Cannon, Pomykal Named to Homegrown Roster
FC Dallas
FC Dallas (10-3-5) couldn’t build off a 3-2 win over Supporters' Shield-leading Atlanta on the Fourth of July, dropping a 2-0 decision to Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium Saturday.
RSL took the lead in the 11th minute as Albert Rusnak converted a penalty kick after Kellyn Acosta clipped Sebastian Saucedo in the box. Matt Hedges nearly leveled late, but his header was cleared off the line by Jefferson Savarino, who set up Luis Silva’s stoppage-time insurance goal.
“Overall I thought the team looked tired today, but we will reshape,” Oscar Pareja said. “It was not a night we can say we did a lot of good things.”
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: None
- International duty: None
- Injury Report: None
Projected Starting XI
(4-4-2, right to left)
GK: Jesse Gonzalez — Reggie Cannon, Matt Hedges, Reto Ziegler, Maynor Figueroa — Kellyn Acosta, Carlos Gruezo, Victor Ulloa, Santiago Mosquera — Maxi Urruti, Roland Lamah
Chicago Fire
In a wild back-and-forth affair, Chicago (6-9-5) found a stoppage-time equalizer by Bastian Schweinsteiger, only to concede one minute later as former Fire player David Accam netted the late winner for the Union.
The Fire rallied to level three times, first when Nemanja Nikolic scored from the penalty spot to stretch a personal scoring streak to three straight games and then Aleksandar Katai tied the match at 2-2 in the 69th minute.
Cory Burke stuck for his second goal to put Philadelphia up, 3-2, in the 73rd minute before Schweinsteiger headed in a Diego Campos corner followed by Accam’s first goal since being traded from Chicago in January.
“It’s very, very similar to the start of the season, the game against Sporting Kansas City,” Veljko Paunovic said. “We conceded very soft goals, I think in the first half especially, and we conceded too many opportunities. It was our image during the whole year. We could change it in some moments for some time, but we don’t have the consistency to improve.”
- Suspended: None
- Suspended after next caution: None
- International duty: None
- Injury Report: OUT: M - Djordje Mihailovic (right ACL surgery), F - Michael de Leeuw (left ACL surgery), D - Matt Polster (MCL surgery), GK - Patrick McLain (hamstring injury), F - Luis Solignac (left quad injury), D - Grant Lillard (right quad injury); QUESTIONABLE: D - Kevin Ellis (undisclosed injury)
Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Richard Sanchez — Diego Campos, Johan Kappelhof, Jonathan Campbell, Jorge Corrales — Dax McCarty, Brandt Bronico — Elliot Collier, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Aleksandar Katai — Nemanja Nikolic
All-Time Series
- Overall: FC Dallas 21 wins, 74 goals … Chicago Fire 16 wins, 64 goals … 4 draws
- At Dallas: FC Dallas 13 wins, 43 goals … Fire 4 wins, 26 goals … 2 draws
- Last meeting at Dallas: FC Dallas 3, Chicago Fire 1 (July 16, 2016)
Officials
Referee: Marcos Deoliveira
Assistant Referees: Cameron Blanchard, Danny Thornberry
4th Official: Alejandro Mariscal
VAR: Ismail Elfath
