With one eye on next week's massive game in Portland, Carl Robinson decided to rest some of his key personnel. The result was a very young and inexperienced starting line-up, especially in the backline.
Steven Beitashour's hip was still giving him gyp, giving Ethen Sampson his second start in three games. Andy O'Brien was rested, affording Christian Dean his first MLS start in the centre of the defence to partner Kendall Waston. Pedro Morales was also rested, with Mehdi Ballouchy getting the start, whilst Erik Hurtado dropped back to the bench and Darren Mattocks regained his spot leading the attack.
For Dallas, Blas Perez got the start, despite being listed as being away on international duty, in what will likely anger Vancouver, but there's not a lot they could do about it. They would wish they could.
Vancouver did well early and the young defence didn't look overawed or overpowered in the slightest. In fact, it should have been the Whitecaps that opened the scoring ten minutes in when a quick break led to Ballouchy playing the perfect ball across to a wide open Mattocks, but the Jamaican's wayward shooting was in full force, with a horrendous effort that flew well wide.
It was a miss that was to be punished in the 20th minute and it was Perez that did the damage with a wonder goal from the right sideline that looped over David Ousted's head and nestled in the net. It was clearly a hit and hope cross, but the Dane was just out of position enough to be beaten.
Dallas thought they'd doubled their lead in the 27th minute when Ousted parried a Fabian Castillo shot into the path of Perez but the Panamanian was in an offside position.
Vancouver got on with the game and broke quickly. As Sebastian Fernandez twisted and turned on the edge of the box, Je-Vaughn Watson brought him down and the Caps earned a free kick as close to being a penalty as possible.
Mauro Rosales stepped up to drill a fierce kick straight at Raul Fernandez, who punched the danger clear.
The game was going from end to end and when Vancouver failed to properly clear some Dallas the pressure, the ball fell to Victor Ulloa just outside the Caps' box and the homegrown midfielder unleashed a fierce shot which Ousted acrobatically tipped over to keep it as a one goal game.
That was to be all the action in the half and Vancouver will have gone in fairly happy with their performance and to still be in the game at just one goal behind.
The half ended in a slightly bizarre fashion when both sides had an assistant coach sent off at the referee for seemingly chipping away too much at the fourth official.
The Caps started the second half sprightly but didn't threaten Fernandez in the Dallas goal.
Castillo had a great chance to put the home side two up on the hour mark, showing some lovely footwork to make space before Ousted came up with the big save.
Vancouver turned to Erik Hurtado to try and salvage something from the game and the striker blasted over with his first chance of the game moments later.
And it was to be Hurtado that got Vancouver back into the game with a great finish in the 67th minute after some fantastic work and a final ball from Rosales to set him up.
The goal reignited Dallas and after a spell of pressure they retook the lead with 12 minutes remaining and it was that man Perez again.
Kendall Waston rose to head a Michel free kick off Tesho Akindele, and the ball broke to Perez who made no mistake and fired into the empty net after Ousted was left in no-man's land again after overcommitting on the original ball in.
Vancouver pushed hard in the closing minutes as they tried to salvage a draw, and had a handball appeal for a penalty turned down, but there was to be no second and the Caps made it winless in five at Dallas.
With Colorado and Portland drawing 2-2, Vancouver remain in the playoff places in the West and now head to take on the Timbers next Saturday afternoon in a massive Cascadian clash.
FINAL SCORE: FC Dallas 2 - 1 Vancouver Whitecaps
ATT: 16,792
VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Ethen Sampson, Kendall Waston, Christian Dean, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Mehdi Ballouchy (Pedro Morales 57), Mauro Rosales (Kekuta Manneh 81), Russell Teibert; Sebastian Fernández; Darren Mattocks (Erik Hurtado 63) [suns Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Sam Adekugbe, Nicolas Mezquida, Omar Salgado]
DALLAS: Raul Fernandez, Moises Hernandez (Jair Benitez 46), Zach Loyd, Matt Hedges, Je-Vaughn Watson, Victor Ulloa, Michel, Fabian Castillo, Andres Escobar (Mauro Diaz 55), Tesho Akindele, Blas Perez [subs Not Used: Chris Seitz, Kellyn Acosta, Peter Luccin, Ryan Hollingshead, David Texeira]
REACTION:
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS
CARL ROBINSON
On the first Blas Perez goal of the game:
."Total fluke. He's out in the corner, Christian (Dean) has done a very good job, maybe could have stopped the cross, but what can you do? We got beat in here last year, I think, by a freak Jair Benitez goal. This time we get done by a goal, but I really didn't think we were in too much danger in the first half prior to that freak goal, as I call it, so it was disappointing.
On the second Perez goal off of a set piece situation:
"It was interesting because the free kick hadn't been given, and then suddenly the free kick is given from somewhere so we've got to deal with it. We've got to deal with the set piece. We didn't deal with it. The second ball we didn't do anything. I just didn't understand the refs decision to not give a free kick, then a free kick was given against us."
Was officiating the difference tonight?
"No, I was surprised with the free kick that led to the winning goal. I know the guys have said in the locker room that we should have received a penalty in the first half because he was blatantly in the box, and key moments to win games, change games. It was a good performance from the boys against a very good team. A lot of fire in a lot of people's bellies out there. A lot of people getting involved in the game, and it's a defeat so we will take it on the chin."
RUSSELL TEIBERT
On tonight's match:
."Lot of thoughts. It's a good performance by the team, it was a good performance by Dallas, and we go down and then show a lot of fight to come back in the game. It's credit and testament to our team attitude and mentality and how we believe in each other. We gave up a set piece that I need to watch back to see what happened. Somehow Blas (Perez) gets in the right spot and the ball drops to him and it's 2-1. But we came back again and were pushing for a second goal right to the final whistle. It's a tough one to take tonight, but we need to turn the page real quickly because we have one of the biggest games of the year coming up in Portland.
DAVID OUSTED
On tonight's match:
"I'm disappointed. I thought we had a good opportunity to get points, and did well, but it just wasn't to be."
His perspective on the two FC Dallas goals:
"The first one is a fluke. He (Perez) tried to hit a cross that swerves on me and goes in on a dime and button. With that, I could have moved my feet more and maybe gotten to that, but I think I reacted well afterwards, some good saves. The second goal is on my shoulders. I tried to come and help the guys, shouldn't have come out there. He (Perez) gets an easy tap-in. I'm disappointed with my performance today, I hold myself to a high standard and I didn't meet that today. I got three good saves in there, but I apologized to the guys in there. I wasn't at the level I wanted to be today, and they worked hard for nothing today."
On his defence's coverage against Fabian Castillo
.I think they (FC Dallas) got through a few times, but nothing that Dallas doesn't do almost any time. I think Ethen (Sampson) was fantastic, took (Andres) Escobar completely out of the match. (Christian) Dean, same thing. He did really well. Tough place to play and a lot of pressure, but both of them did really well.
FC DALLAS
OSCAR PAREJA
General thoughts on the match
"The game was very emotional with lots of things that happened. In the first half I thought that we couldn’t find the flow and it was probably one of those games where we gave away the ball the most so we didn’t have consistency in the ideas that we wanted because it was very tough during many parts of the first halfIn the second half things got calmer. We had Mauro who brought at lot of ideas and it started growing and everything looked very good. The effort like always is there. What I saw from our players is a team that always gives 110% effort and sometimes we play better than others but the second half today was one of those games where my team is like the other teams are in the top positions."
Thoughts on Blas’ game:
"Blas sets the tone for this group in the locker room and on the field also. In the field you saw it. He’s a player who gave all he has and then the game rewards him with two goals today. We needed him today. He played two games during the week and came in the first day after that and said I want to be on the field. That represents what this group is about and I’m glad for him. He sets the path and the boys follow him."
When Blas told you he wanted to play, did you ever consider not starting him?
"No, with Blas it’s simple. I look at him on Thursday and asked him do you think you have gas in the tank and the answer is of course and that was it. We didn’t talk about it any longer. He had a couple days where the level of training was low so we made sure that he regenerated well but his heart is there. Blas despite of his age is one of the guys who gives you more running in the game. His numbers are always high and I’m not concerned about his fitness. Unless he’s hurt he’s there all the time."
You got 35 minutes from Mauro Diaz tonight can you assess his level where he’s at?
"Mauro’s getting there. Today was a very demanding and taxing game but he needed to come and get his rhythm quick. Mauro knew he needed to get rhythm and make the team play better which is a huge responsibility for Mauro and he did it. That tells me that he’s getting to his best and I’m happy to see that."
This win opens an eight point gap over Vancouver which could have been a two point gap with a loss how important is this win for your team with the standings so tight?
"The league brings these emotions and you look at the standings but I’m always in the mode that were one game at a time. I feel today obviously very happy and proud to beat Vancouver and see the boys giving us that effort. We get three points and get some distance but the responsibility now isn’t to look at the standings, the responsibility now is to say we solved that problem tonight but the playoffs are not secure yet and the responsibility is to just keep looking ahead."
BLAS PEREZ
On scoring two goals tonight and two goals for Panama in a single week:
"It was a great week for me. I am especially happy for today’s result. We worked hard as a team. It was a great game and I am happy for it."
On telling Oscar Pareja that he wanted to play tonight:
"Yes, I was a little tired but I recovered quickly. I told Oscar that I was ready to play. He asked me if I could play at 100% and I told him that I felt I could. I am glad everything went the way that we planned… I’m just happy. Tomorrow we’ll be back training again, a recovery practice but yes it will be a normal week of training… I’ll take Monday off."
Where does this week rank for you in your career?
"I wanted Panama to win the CONCACAF Central American Cup… Everything went great here with FC Dallas but Panama, right now, is playing for third place in that competition (Panama defeated El Salvador, 1-0, to win third place). I was really pulling for Panama to go to the final."
TESHO AKINDELE
General thoughts on the match:
"It was a good win. We could have lost composure when Vancouver tied the game up but everyone stayed true to the plan and we fought hard a got a good three points."
On Blas Perez’s performance this week:
"He sets an example for all of us. He is one of the older players on the team but he is always working hard on the field every match, even tonight after he played three games this week. He’s running all over the place. He is giving us encouragement and keeping us going. Blas is a great example for everyone on the team."
As a rookie, does that give you the blueprint for success?
"It does. He has had a long and successful career. I can see that he is successful because he works hard. It’s a great thing – to be able to look at what he does."
What were you thinking when Vancouver tied the game?
"I was thinking that we just needed to take a breath. There was still a lot of time remaining. I thought we had most of the play before they scored. I thought we would be ok."