FRISCO, Texas – FC Dallas enjoyed another three-goal margin of victory in its second consecutive preseason match by defeating USL Championship side Austin Bold FC 3-0 at Toyota Stadium.
“I thought it was positive,” Luchi said of the display. “Thank you to Austin Bold for coming here and playing us. They’re a tough team and they made it difficult to break them down. But we kept trying to do things that we’re working on in training and I think it was a good example of depth as well. Rotations and young players stepping in, veterans leading young players and connecting with them, so that’s important.”
Defender Eddie Munjoma was instrumental in Dallas’ opening goal 15 minutes in. Andrés Ricaurte found Munjoma with an inch-perfect ball over the top and the SMU grad chested it down and forced a save from Austin’s keeper, only for it to deflect off his own defender and into the net.
“(It was) good, definitely a lot of improvement from the first performance,” Munjoma said. “We have a lot to grow obviously but I think tactically and the sharpness of the team as a whole has been a lot better. Obviously, it’s important to win at home and that’s what we did.”
The Bold fashioned a chance for an equalizer after half an hour by swinging in a free kick which fell kindly to a man at the back post, but his shot cannoned of Jimmy Maurer’s crossbar and was eventually cleared.
Dallas doubled its lead in the 75th minute when Dante Sealy pressed the Bold’s keeper at the top of his box, forcing a turnover which Franco Jara calmly placed into the back of the net for his first preseason goal. Six minutes later, Freddy Vargas (who was lively and dangerous throughout his 45 minutes on the field) stepped up to a free kick 25 yards out and curled one over the wall and into the top corner—his second goal in as many preseason games.
“Freddy’s made a positive impact since day one,” Luchi said. “He’s shown respect to teammates, he’s coachable, he’s still learning about our culture. In a short amount of time, he’s integrated well. One the field, he has really smart movements, finds spaces, he can combine, he can beat you on the dribble and he’s always got his head for teammates in the box. He hit a nice curler from the dead ball today, so he can hurt you in different ways.”
