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MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas Kicks off 30th MLS Season with 2-1 Comeback Win in Texas Derby

February 22, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


HOUSTON, Texas - FC Dallas (1-0-0, 3 points) earned a 2-1 comeback win over Texas Derby rivals Houston Dynamo FC (0-1-0, 0 points) on Saturday night at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston. Petar Musa and Anderson Julio each found the back of the net to lift Dallas to victory. FC Dallas has recorded consecutive come-from-behind wins in season openers.

WELCOME TO THIRTY

An original MLS club, FC Dallas opened its 30th season tonight with a 2-1 comeback victory against rivals Houston Dynamo FC at Shell Energy Stadium. It was the club's first league win in Houston since 2016.

THE NEW AND IMPROVED FC DALLAS

Lucho Acosta, Anderson Julio, Shaq Moore, Pedrinho, Ramiro and Osaze Urhoghide all made their FC Dallas debuts tonight in Houston. Pedrinho, Ramiro and Urhoghide also made their MLS debut tonight.

IN THE RIGHT PLACE AND RIGHT MOMENT

Forward Petar Musa scored FC Dallas' first goal of the season in the 55th minute of the second half. This was Musa's third goal in three games versus the Dynamo and is tied for the fourth most goals scored in the Texas Derby by a Dallas player. In the past three MLS matches, Musa has scored twice and assisted two times.

DEBUT INSPIRADO PARA ANDERSON

Anderson Julio scored his first goal for FC Dallas in the 76th minute of the second half. The goal was assisted by Petar Musa and gave Dallas its first lead of the season. Julio was acquired by FC Dallas in Dec. 2024 from Real Salt Lake.

THE PIPELINE CONTINUES

Pedrinho made his MLS and FC Dallas debut after entering the match in the 62nd minute. He became the 33rd player to feature for both FC Dallas and North Texas SC. Pedrinho scored the game-winning goal for North Texas SC in the MLS NEXT Pro Cup on November 9.

SERIES HISTORY

FC Dallas earned its 16th Texas Derby victory tonight against the Dynamo in MLS regular season action. Dallas is unbeaten in its last seven MLS matches against the Dynamo, and secured its seventh franchise road win versus the Dynamo and first in Houston since 2016.

FC DALLAS POSTGAME QUOTES

Head coach Eric Quill

Opening statements...

"I am so happy for the FC Dallas fans tonight. They came here and got to experience an amazing first game of the season. To go down 1-0 and have the response that we had says a lot about what these guys have been doing over the last few weeks. Our mentality is shifting to where we believe we can play against anybody and we are here to win and we are not going to stop. Every player who stepped on the field tonight brought the level up and fought hard over 90 minutes to get the win. Even the guys who didn't get the chance to come in still had that energy and desire to win. I am truly amazed at what this group has accomplished in such a short amount of time and I am looking forward to more. I am excited for the club and for our guys tonight."

On winning his first game in his hometown of Houston, Texas...

"It's amazing, my family is in the crowd - my kids, my wife, my parents, my close friends and people in the soccer world I grew up with in this city supporting me. So to be able to come here and get a win like this, it being my first MLS game, is surreal. I don't think it's settled in yet, I'm still running on a high from the first whistle. But more so I'm just so glad for these guys. We won one away game last year and to come here Week 1 in a derby to a place where it's tough to get a result like this, it's a great moment for the club and that's what I'm most pleased about."

On the message to the team at halftime...

"I just told them 'Look, the goal they scored was their only real chance and other than that it was a nothing half in terms of what we were taking on.' But I feel like we weren't being ourselves with the ball and we had players outside of the central structure of the game. That may have been due to nerves and not wanting to be in the stress of the game. So we talked at halftime about dropping (Sebastian) Lletget and Ramiro underneath the first line because they were dropping deep to get the ball from our center backs out of the structure. And we need numbers in the middle of the park to be able to go at the heart of their defense, to open up the wide areas more. You can't be a one-trick pony and just run around the edges of the game. You have to find ways to hurt them inside the game and in the second half we did a better job of fighting in the middle of the field and having sharp combinations to break through and get to the wide areas. Our counter attacks were really impressive in the second half, obviously the second goal came from there. But all night long we were dangerous on the break and on the road that's sometimes what you have to be. Our halftime adjustments were to help calm them and let them know that we hadn't truly played yet in the first 45 minutes and the game is right there in front of us so let's go find the two goals we need."

Defender Sebastien Ibeagha

On the offseason growth opportunity...

"The big thing was our mentality going into games and believing in the new system, believing in Eric, believing in everything that we do. I think that today is a reflection of what we worked on in the offseason. We believed for 95 minutes to get the result, that's all we want."

On getting the three points...

"Tonight's win serves as a catalyst for the rest of the season. Knowing that we can play this way, we can do well in games, even if we're down, and if we just believe in ourselves and keep pushing the envelope and staying aggressive the whole time, we can get positive results this season."

On the fans traveling to Houston...

"A huge shout out to our fans for coming out and bringing some noise. The weather wasn't the best. But it's one of those games where we always want to win, no matter what the circumstances are. We're happy that we were able to get the three points."

Forward Petar Musa

On scoring again at Shell Energy Stadium...

"It's the first goal of the season and it's good to get a good result tonight. We won and we are very happy. Every derby we play is special, but to be honest I want to win every game I play in."

On having a player like Luciano Acosta on the team...

"We have a lot of new faces on the team from players, all the way to staff. We know Lucho is an amazing player and we know he can bring more creativity in the attacking moments. I am happy that I have him in my team and hopefully we can create good moments this season. We have a good team, a good preseason and we are going to be ready for the next game."

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