The second day of Dallas Cup action was pivotal for teams involved in the Gordan Jago Super Group. With the top team from each group advancing to the semifinals, Monday’s action proved decisive for a number of MLS academy teams trying to advance.
Dallas close in on spot in Super Group semifinal
A day after defeating Barcelona, FC Dallas took one step further to a semifinal spot with a 3-0 win over Costa Rican side Cartagines.
This time, the breakthrough didn’t come until second half. FCD Academy 'keeper Eduardo Cortes had to be sharp in order to keep things scoreless at the break, and U-18 captain Jack Coleman opened the scoring in the game’s 65th minute, scoring a wind-aided goal from his own half.
Collecting the ball in his own half, Coleman lofted a clearance towards the Cartagines goal that the ‘keeper misjudged and bounced into the net.
“I hit a long ball over the top, it was against the wind so it held up a little bit,” Coleman told fcdallas.com. “I got great contact on it and I’m not sure where the ‘keeper was, so it worked out for us, which is good.”
Late insurance goals from Bryan Leyva and Victor Pinal put the game out of reach for Cartagines. FC Dallas need a win or draw against Japan’s U-18 national team on Wednesday to seal qualification to the semifinals.
Whitecaps fall short against Tigres
Needing a second straight win to take control of Bracket C in the Super Group, the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency went down early and couldn’t muster a comeback, falling against Tigres 2-0.
[inline_node:333326]Things got off to a bad start in windy conditions as Tigres nicked a goal within the game’s first two minutes, putting the Whitecaps on their heels. However, the Canadian side responded, dominating the first half and creating scoring chances they couldn’t convert.
“We could have scored at least two, maybe three goals [in the first half],” head coach Richard Grootschloten told MLSsoccer.com. “When you get chances like that, you have to score at least one or two. We didn’t, and we were against the wind in the second half … we tried and tried but we were absolutely not good enough.”
Tigres added a second half goal and the Whitecaps couldn’t muster a response.
Vancouver still have a chance to win the bracket and advance, but will need to win by a big margin against Real Salt Lake’s Academy on Wednesday and hope for Corinthians to defeat Tigres later that day.
Arsenal thrash Chorrillo FC
Through two games, one of the emerging favorites in this year’s Dallas Cup Super Group is Arsenal. Fresh off a dominant win against the host Dallas Texans, the English youth side followed it up with another lopsided defeat, this time a 6-0 win against Panamanian club Chorillo FC.
Arsenal started slow however, coping with windy conditions that left an impact on each game. A Conor Henderson penalty in the 40th minute gave the Gunners a 1-0 lead at the half.
From there, the deluge begun, as Luke Freeman converted a second penalty five minutes into the second half. Josh added a third before Freeman scored his second of the game, with Oguzhan Ozyakup and Zak Ansah rounding out the scoring. With the win, Arsenal have all but clinched a spot in the semifinals.
Other MLS Academy Scores
Super Group
Eintracht Frankfurt 3, Houston Dynamo 0
Corinthians 4, Real Salt Lake 1
U-19
D.C. United 2, Knowsley Youth 1
U-17
FC Dallas 3, Jacksonville Fury 1
U-16
Houston Dynamo 2, Santa Clara Sporting 1
FC Premier 4, D.C. United 1
Real Salt Lake 4, Solar SC Red 1
Estudiantes Tecos 2, Chicago Fire Juniors 0
