FRISCO, Texas — FC Dallas completed their three-game homestand undefeated, but not exactly in the way they would have planned, playing San Jose to a scoreless draw on Saturday night at FC Dallas Stadium.
With the draw, FC Dallas stretched their winless streak to 13 games, tied for the fourth longest in MLS history. The Texan squad, however, can take heart in giving the Earthquakes their first road shutout of the season thanks to a pair of timely interferences by defender Hernán Pertúz and a couple of late saves from goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
San Jose came to Frisco without a key member of the attack as forward Steven Lenhart was left home to rest, with head coach Frank Yallop choosing to give super sub Alan Gordon his third start of the season next to MLS Golden Boot leader Chris Wondolowski.
For FC Dallas, 2010 MLS MVP David Ferreira was given his first start in over 14 months while Schellas Hyndman also gave a surprise first MLS start to northern California native Andrew Wiedeman as they looked to end a franchise record 12-game winless streak
With Ferreira back in the midfield, FCD enjoyed the majority of the run of play in what was a cagey first half. The Colombian playmaker sent hopeful balls up to lone striker Brek Shea, but it was San Jose who nearly found the net first.
The Earthquakes looked to play through Gordon as the center forward and his 36th-minute flick-on freed Wondolowski past Pertúz and in on goal. The MLS leading scorer was able to chip past an on-rushing Hartman, but Pertúz recovered to clear the ball off the line in a thrilling sequence.
Desperately needing a win, Hyndman made a double Brazilian substitution at halftime, bringing on Jackson for Andrew Wiedeman and giving Ricardo Villar his first minutes in three months.
Neither side was able to find much of a foothold in the second half, but the game sprung to life in the last 20 minutes. San Jose midfielder Ramiro Corrales was shown two yellow cards in the span of four minutes for challenges on FCD left back Carlos Rodriguez. His ejection reduced the Earthquakes down to 10 men for the first time this season.
However, the motto for San Jose this season has been to never say die, and the red card seemed to spur them into action. Two wild sequences in the last 15 minutes saw the visiting squad nearly take the lead through Wondolowski, but some last-ditch defending by Matt Hedges and Hartman preserved the shutout.
These two sides will become quite familiar with each other over the next two weeks, meeting again in just 11 days time at Buck Shaw Stadium in San Jose.
Before that, however, the Earthquakes will host Real Salt Lake on Saturday, July 14 (10:30 pm ET, MLS Live).
FCD, meanwhile, will also be in action that Saturday when they pay a visit to the Colorado Rapids (9 pm ET, MLS Live)
