Published 7/7/2012 11:13:40 PM by William Montero from soccermogul

The Earthquakes came to town leading the Western Conference while FC Dallas sits in last place mired in a 12 match winless streak.  It had been 85 days since FCD had found the win column.  After Saturday night the dubious streak is still in tact as the two sides played to a draw.

It was an uneventful start as neither team generated much offense in the opening 45 minutes of play.  Brek Shea fired wide in the 14th and Matt Hedges volleyed over in the 22nd.  Both half-chances that went begging.

San Jose had the best chance of the half when Chris Wondolowski got deep into the Dallas box.  He flicked the ball past the onrushing Kevin Hartman, but just before the ball crossed the goal line Dallas defender Hernan Pertuz slid in and poked the ball away.

FC Dallas replaced both wingers at the break and the team's play improved, but again it was a fairly quiet first few minutes of the second half.  Finally in the 80th minutes there was a significant event as SJ's Ramiro Corrales was shown his second yellow and sent to the showers giving FC Dallas the man advantage.

It should have been FCD on the attack, but it was instead San Jose that created the next two chances.  In the 86th Shea Salinas got in behind the Dallas defense only to see his ball deflected and pawed away by Hartman.  Just minutes later Wondolowski broke loose.  He rifled a low shot on goal that trickled through Hartman's legs but didn't have enough momentum to roll in.

Dallas almost stole the match in injury time.  The crowd groaned as a flicked header drifted just inches over David Ferreira's head inside the six.

In the end, not a bad point for San Jose as they stay on track for a high finish in the Western Conference.  For FC Dallas another opportunity lost as their season slips away.  They finish a three match homestand with nothing more to show than three draws.

Print