FRISCO, Texas – The Toyota Stadium grounds crew were not the only ones providing fireworks for the fans in Frisco on the Fourth of July.
FC Dallas midfielder Mauro Diaz provided his own pyrotechnics on the field in the club’s 3-0 win over the New England Revolution, and he had a hand in all three of the team’s goals (WATCH HIGHLIGHTS ABOVE). He finished the night with one goal and one assist and is now the team leader in assists with six.
“He’s a difference maker,” head coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “I’ve said it before – Mauro creates. He’s thinking all the time of the group. And when he does that, everybody is performing in the best way. It happens when he’s at this level.”
Diaz ‘s savvy on the field showed in just about every way possible on all three goals.
On his first goal in the 9th minute, Diaz scored from a free kick by alertly firing his shot underneath the leaping Revolution wall – a trick he has learned after playing three years in MLS.
“In this league, I’ve noticed that the walls are very tall because there are a lot of tall players,” Diaz said via translator. “I thought it would be a good option, so I tried it and it worked.”
The 24-year-old Argentine did not end up on the stat sheet for the second goal, but his attentiveness on defense made it possible. Diaz intercepted a pass near the New England penalty box, which put him in prime position to find a trailing Fabian Castillo, who would eventually score off of his own rebound.
On goal number three, Diaz threaded a pass between four New England defenders to find Michael Barrios for the Colombian's first career MLS goal.
“He’s definitely one of those guys that sees things that most others don’t see,” midfielder Ryan Hollingshead said after the match. “I don’t know if he’s the most intelligent [I’ve played with], but he’s definitely up there with some of the best.
“When you’re talking MLS, you definitely have to put him in the talks of any No. 10 out there.”
Diaz has been under a microscope all season due to his injury history over the course of his three years in the league. Pareja has carefully managed his minutes on a daily basis to keep his playmaker fresh for an entire season in the hope he can possibly surpass his career-high 17 appearances set back in 2014.
This week, Pareja elected to keep Diaz and Castillo out of the lineup in the team’s midweek US Open Cup loss to Sporting Kansas City, hoping Diaz would be fresh for the holiday matchup.
While it may have cost Dallas a chance at an Open Cup title, the decision certainly paid dividends against New England.
“As much as we were disappointed in the middle of the week with the result, I thought it was the right choice to keep him fresh for this one game,” Pareja said, referencing the 6-2 loss to Sporting Kansas City. “And same with Fabian. They help us a lot and mean a lot to this group.
“Today they showed us why.”
Scott Sidway covers FC Dallas for MLSsoccer.com.
