FC Dallas found themselves with a set-piece problem Wednesday.
After being routed 6-2 by Sporting Kansas City in a round-of-16 match of the US Open Cup at Sporting Park, FCD players and coaches alike pointed to their failures on set-piece defense as reason for the defeat.
Despite starting the 6-foot-3 Walker Zimmerman in place of Zach Loyd at center back next to the 6-foot-4 Matt Hedges, three of SKC’s goals came from set pieces and one on a penalty kick following a Moises Hernandez foul.
“There’s no excuses,” Pareja said after the match. “As the head coach, I have to take full responsibility for what happened tonight with the team allowing that many goals – especially with four of them on set pieces. It cost us a lot.”
Dallas were already starting a less conventional lineup considering the fact that they have to play three games in an eight-day window, but both Zimmerman and Hedges have shown the ability to win balls in the air throughout the season. Zimmerman, in fact, was a top-10 player in aerial wins earlier in the season.
But the Dallas backline was on the losing end of many of those balls on Wednesday.
“[We have] big guys that can get up and win balls in the air with Matt Hedges and Walker Zimmerman there,” midfielder Ryan Hollingshead said after the match. “They are some of the best at defending in the air. They win more headers than anyone I’ve seen.
“Today though, I don’t know. Sometimes it’s just not your day.”
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Four goals ended up being the difference in the match – one that saw SKC tie a club record in goals scored and an FCD record for the worst Open Cup loss, equaling a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Fire in 2000.
“The boys tried to get out of the hole that we put ourselves in in the first half. We tried the game more even and score,” Pareja said. “We had some reactions, but we kept giving up goals with set-piece plays. That hurts a lot.”
While matter-of-factly stating that a defensive performance like this cannot happen again – even though this is the third time this season they’ve given up at least four goals – Hollingshead thought the team played a decent defensive game outside of the set pieces.
“They didn’t break us down too often,” Hollingshead told MLSSoccer.com. “Most of the goals were just set pieces coming into the box, and Dwyer just outplayed and out jumped our guys. That’s on us.”
Dallas do not have time to dwell on the loss either, as they have a quick turnaround when they resume MLS play at home against the New England Revolution on the Fourth of July (9 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
“I don’t like to stick in the excuses and stick in the problems. We’ve got to move on and resolve it,” Pareja said. “We don’t have time to stay there.”
