FRISCO, Tx. — FC Dallas made history Saturday night, becoming the 15th team in MLS history to come back from a three-goal deficit to earn a draw. The 3-3 tie against the Montreal Impact at Stade Saputo was a valuable away point as the team sits on the outside in the Western Conference playoff race.
The comeback started in the 59th minute, when substitute Zdenek Ondrasek pounced on a rebound, beating goalkeeper Evan Bush and racing to the ball in an effort to build on the team’s momentum. It was Ondrasek’s first goal with FC Dallas, ending a goal drought for the 31-year-old.
“It was an amazing feeling,” Ondrasek said. “We were losing so I didn’t have a chance to celebrate it. I’ve been wanting so long, it wasn’t an easy six months, but I’m happy with the goal. At the end of the day, I’m disappointed because we needed to win the game, but It was a good effort. Good lesson for all the players to never give up.”
Ondrasek provided motivation to teammates in an effort to get the result. His experience, alongside the wisdom of fullback Ryan Hollingshead, helped propel the team in a desperate time. Hollingshead was seen grabbing players in a huddle after an Impact goal, letting them know the game was not over yet, no matter what the score was.
“I just showed them my ugly face and they’re always scared of me,” Ondrasek said with a laugh. “I told them we can do it, we just have to go for it. After the first goal, it gave us more power, more hunger. Try to push everyone, push them ahead and that we can do it and it’s possible.”
“One of the things I said was ‘We’re a freaking good team’ and we are outplaying teams consistently when we’re playing together, pressing together, those sorts of things,” Hollingshead said. “I was just reminding those guys, we need to be confident of what we are as a team. We can hang and play and beat anybody in this league. A lot of the Montreal game was reminding them that we’re not too far out of the game. We need to continue to push and if we get one goal at a time, we’ll be right back in the game.”
Prior to the second half, FC Dallas coach Luchi Gonzalez spoke to his team about what he wanted to see in the second half. It seemed as if Dallas was slow and tired and the result looked in hand for the Impact and now former head coach Remi Garde. Tactics slowly went out the window as the visitors looked for some sort of spark.
“There was some emotion in it obviously,” Gonzalez said. “It was a challenge to each other, to myself, to the staff, to the players, that what are we? Are we scared? Are we scared to press? Are we so scared that we can’t show movement in these pockets, be aggressive in these areas? We challenged ourselves in that locker room to not be scared. I don’t care about those goals. Let’s inspire with our performance. More energy, more commitment to the press, more commitment to get numbers forward.”
Gonzalez challenged his players to take more risks than before. He wanted numbers high up the pitch, forcing his defense to have a responsibility to defend one-on-one, reminiscent of Atlanta United’s style. Instead of sitting in a lower block, Gonzalez wanted to win the ball high and take advantage of those opportunities.
“Even if we’re one-on-one in the back, how many goals have we conceded having a really high line on the back,” Gonzalez asked and was met with silence from the media. “Exactly. We concede when we’re bunched up in our box or if there’s a little break down. We’re actually really good defending our goal pressing high together. So why wouldn’t we do that more often? If you need a sub, I can get fresh legs in. That was the challenge. We have nothing to lose, let’s go. I don’t care if it’s organized or not. Let’s just win the ball higher up the field. And I saw the difference. If there’s a group to do it, it’s this group. I’m very proud of them but we don’t have time, we can use it as a good example going into this next game.”
Hollingshead capped the epic comeback with a header off a corner kick in the 90th minute for his fifth goal on the season. It was a strong moment for the veteran, who’s words earlier in the match helped bring the team to the brink of closing the deficit. Matching words with actions, the goal provided elation for coaches and players with the circumstances involved.
“It felt great, man,” Hollingshead said. “There was a different energy in the second half. We weren’t even that organized. Our pressing wasn’t too organized but we had so much energy. We wanted it. We wanted the comeback. You could see that in the guys. That’s positive for us and going forward I hope that comeback is a marker for a change in our season, where we just know that we can play and beat every team.”
Even though the comeback win was a strong moment in the 2019 FC Dallas season, the team knows it can not put itself in a deficit like that if it wants to compete for MLS Cup. While the result was valuable in the end, FCD hopes to use this as a springboard heading into the Texas Derby against the Houston Dynamo Sunday.
“It’s a balance,” midfielder Paxton Pomykal said. “We have to happy with the tie, considering we were down three-nil. That’s a pretty steep comeback especially away. At the same time, it’s not a win. If we dogged it out and won 1-0, we would be in a better position that we are now. Given the circumstances, we have to be happy we got a point on the road in a difficult environment. I think it was a positive atmosphere in the locker room after the game, considering the circumstances.”