Petar Musa and Bernard Kamungo had goals early in the first and second halves, respectively, as FC Dallas defeated Austin FC 2-0 on Saturday in a Copa Tejas match between the Lone Star State rivals in Frisco, Texas.
Jacob Jackson made three saves for the shutout.
FC Dallas (8-11-10, 34 points) won for the first time since Aug. 9, snapping a run of three consecutive draws and moving up to 11th place in the Western Conference and closer to the postseason line.
Austin FC (11-10-8, 41 points) had a two-match winnings streak snapped and failed to earn points for just the second time in its past six outings. The Verde is in sixth place in the West with five games remaining.
The Toros went on the attack from the start and their aggressiveness paid off when Musa scored just 90 seconds into the match. Musa carried the ball into the offensive zone before playing a nifty give-and-go with Logan Farrington, who received the pass from Musa at the edge of the box and then returned it to the Dallas striker after the latter had burst into the clear.
Musa was wide open inside the area for the return pass and made short work of his chance, as Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver (five saves) barely had a chance to move before Musa put the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal.
Dallas continued to press, with Sebastien Ibeagha’s header off a pass from Farrington in the fifth minute forcing Stuver into a save. Musa had another chance in the 24th minute but his attempt was also knocked away by the Austin keeper.
Guilherme Biro finally produced Austin’s first shot in goal, with his header off a free kick in the 30th minute stopped by Dallas goalie Jackson.
Austin’s Jader Obrian tested the goalie early in the second half but was turned away by Jackson, leading to a punt past midfield from the Dallas keeper onto the foot of Patrickson Delgado. He spotted Kamungo running free on the opposite side of the field and found him in time for Kamungo to outrun two Verde defenders and beat Stuver in the 49th minute.
The Verde will play in the semifinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Minnesota United FC on Wednesday.
Dallas outshot Austin 15-11 and put seven shots on goal, to three for the Verde.
–Field Level Media
