Josef Martinez scored on a breakaway in the 60th minute, lifting Montreal to a 2-1 victory over Dallas on Saturday night, spoiling the debut of celebrated newcomer Petar Musa of Dallas.
After Ruan Gregorio Teixeira took the ball deep into the Dallas side, he slipped a pass to Martinez who beat Dallas goalie Maarten Paes to the ball and scored into the vacated net to give Montreal its 2-1 lead.
The goal by Martinez was the only score of the second half.
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Late in the first half, Musa scored with a right-footed shot from the center of the box with an assist by Bernard Kamungo. The goal tied the score after Jules-Anthony Vilsaint had put Montreal ahead 1-0 in the 20th minute.
"We did not try what made us successful all of preseason and it hurt us tonight. Some of our players haven’t been playing the whole preseason, it is their first game together," said Head Coach Nico Estévez. "I think we have to be patient but it's a good punch in the face to wake us up and see that there is a lot of work to do that we already knew."
“THE MOOSE” IS LOOSE
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Forward Petar Musa made his highly anticipated FC Dallas debut on Saturday night as he started and logged 90 minutes for the club. Dallas signed Musa to a four-year Designated Player contract on February 1, 2024.
"I am feeling good, it was a warm welcome here," said Forward Petar Musa. "Today was a full stadium, a really nice atmosphere and our fans, they supported us. But yes, we are disappointed that we didn't make them happy.
Musa is a 25-year-old Croatian international striker who FC Dallas signed from Portuguese giants SL Benfica in January in a club-record deal. Earlier in his career, Musa became the Czech first division’s top scorer as a 21-year-old with 14 goals.
PETAR BE A GOAL
FC Dallas’ Petar Musa scored his first goal for FC Dallas in the 46th minute of the first half. Musa’s goal was initially disallowed for offside but VAR revised and corrected the goal. Musa becomes the 15th player in FC Dallas history to score in his MLS regular season debut.
LA JOYITA ECUATORIANA
Ecuadorian international midfielder Patrickson Delgado made his MLS debut with FC Dallas after coming into the match at half time. Delgado is on loan with FC Dallas from Independiente del Valle of the Ecuadorian Serie A for the 2024 season.
THE KID FROM DALLAS RETURNS HOME
Defender Omar Gonzalez made his official FC Dallas debut tonight with his first start of the 2024 season. The Dallas native played as the central defender in Estévez’s backline of three. Gonzalez signed with FC Dallas via free agency on January 10, 2024
SELLOUT #2 AT TOYOTA STADIUM IN 2024
Toyota Stadium witnessed its second sellout of the 2024 MLS Season. FC Dallas took on CF Montréal in front of a crowd of 19,096. After debuting the Afterburner kit last week, Dallas’ Burn Baby Burn secondary kit made its 2024 season debut.
CF Montreal picked up its first win on the road against Dallas, improving to 1-4-1 at Toyota Stadium.
Each team had 10 shots; Dallas with seven on goal and Montreal with six.
Paes had four saves for Dallas and Jonathan Sirois six for Montreal (1-0-1).
UP NEXT
FC Dallas will hit the road for the first time on Matchday Three. Dallas will take on Eastern Conference club New York Red Bulls on Saturday, March 9 from Red Bull Arena at 6:30 PM CT.
