ShareHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
FRISCO — FC Dallas might not have a more unbelievable goal all season (or ever) than the one Kenny Cooper scored in the ninth minute of Saturday night’s season opener at Pizza Hut Park.
Cooper launched a shot from near midfield — on the FC Dallas’ side of the field — and it somehow caught Chicago Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch off his line, bouncing into the goal.And that was the end of FC Dallas’ highlights. The rest of the game was a disaster.Chicago, which had been 0-3 in Major League Soccer season-openers in Dallas, left with a 3-1 victory, scoring twice on penalty kicks and taking the first leg in the clubs’ Brimstone Cup rivalry.The cup, awarded by the supporters’ groups of both teams to the winner of the season series, has gone to FC Dallas seven years in a row. But it will need a much better effort than it got Saturday.Chicago tied the score in the 37th minute when striker Patrick Nyarko dented the FCD defense as Steve Purdy stumbled and his pass found onrushing Justin Mapp, whose low shot beat goalie Dario Sala.Mapp was in on the Fire’s second goal, too, when he was challenged in the penalty area by defender Drew Moor, who was called for a handball. Team USA veteran Brian McBride made the PK.Midfielder Dave van den Bergh, in his first game for FC Dallas after an off-season trade, set up numerous chances, but the team couldn’t cash in. Two shots hit posts: Moor’s header off a Dax McCarty corner in the 72nd minute and Jeff Cunningham’s header (off the crossbar) in the 81st minute.Chicago added its final goal in stoppage time when John Thorrington was pulled down by Purdy at the top of the penalty area and Mexican veteran Cuauhtemac Blanco buried the penalty kick in the upper corner.
@Nyx.CommentBody@