In this past May’s Austin FC match against Dallas, a second-half sending off of an Austin player — namely, Rodney Redes — led to Verde going down a man, changed the complexion of the match, and culminated in Jesus Ferreira’s late game-winning goal.
On Saturday night, Dani Pereira’s reckless late tackle on Jose Martinez in the 67th minute earned him a second yellow and an early exit in a match that started subdued and largely punchless, then picked up once the teams reemerged from the locker room.
It looked like Austin FC would weather losing Pereira through 23 minutes of regular time and seven excruciating minutes of stoppage time. But they fell about 15 seconds short in the end, with Nkosi Tafari getting in a header at the death to lead FC Dallas to a 1-0 win over Austin FC.
The win also put FCD in the driver’s seat to reclaim Copa Tejas if they can get a win against Houston on Sept. 30 — though a draw between the Texas rivals would send the trophy back to Austin.
The match landed just short of being the scoreless draw it appeared it would be based on the first half’s fairly lackluster proceedings.
Only one first-half yellow card mattered
The first half had just a single shot on goal — Alex Ring’s 15th-minute effort — and was perhaps notable for a couple of FC Dallas yellow cards that showed some lack of composure from the hosts.
Paul Arriola protested what should have been a yellow-card-level foul on Nick Lima that went entirely whistled; Arriola then got the yellow himself. Marco Farfan got one for kicking the ball away from a freshly-fouled Owen Wolff as he looked to restart play on a free kick. Dani Pereira got a first-half yellow card as well, and that turned out to be particularly important.
