FRISCO, Texas – Before their recent four-game slide, FC Dallas were putting two or three goals away every match – best in Major League Soccer at the time.
That made it easy for the club to absorb a goal or two and helped the North Texas club surge to the top of the league.
But starting with the April 26 match against D.C. United, the team has only scored three goals in four games. Combined with defensive struggles that led to nine goals allowed in that span, that scoring rate added up to four straight losses.
Overall, though, the team is creating chances, and that gives the club reason for optimism going into their match Saturday against Chivas USA at Toyota Stadium (8:30 pm ET; MLS Live).
“I can’t complain too much about the offensive part of the team so far,” said FC Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja. “We are going to score goals. The game against San Jose is one of those good examples of how many options we create, and we created a lot of chances.”
Veteran forward Blas Perez echoed Pareja’s feelings.
“It was a tough week, but the thing about it is we created chances,” Perez said. “That is the toughest thing, is to create chances, and we’re doing it, so it is just a matter of time.”
Pareja said the Panamanian forward and his attacking teammates will need to produce for the club to succeed.
“I back him up 100 percent, and the same with [young Designated Player David] Texeira. I know it hurts because to [lose] is hard, but I know these two guys are going to give us a lot of joy,” Pareja said. “The way [Perez] works and the way he puts himself in spots to score is talent and desire. We’ve got to be patient, he’s going to bring goals. I have no doubt about it.”
There certainly is talent across the front line of the team, with Fabian Castillo and Je-Vaughn Watson supplementing the efforts of Perez and Texeira.
“It can be me, Fabian [Castillo], anyone else can come and score the goals,” Perez said. “We can’t put too much pressure on ourselves because we’re not scoring goals. We are creating a lot of chances.”
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To get back in their winning ways, FC Dallas need all of their attackers to produce results on the score sheet.
“It’s a part of the game, being a forward, that there are only going to be a few chances,” Perez said. “But when they are there, we have to take advantage of it.”
