New York City FC will try to make it six straight wins at Yankee Stadium when they host FC Dallas Saturday at 7 p.m.
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NYCFC is coming off a 3-1 loss to the New England Revolution last Saturday and come into the weekend tied with the New York Red Bulls at 44 points, two points off the pace set by Toronto FC atop the Eastern Conference.
Frank Lampard scored the lone goal against the Revs, his 12th goal in 14 games. Andrea Pirlo picked up his team-leading 10th assist and RJ Allen came off the bench to register his sixth assist.
It was a disappointing defeat for NYCFC, who is close to securing a first-ever MLS Cup playoff berth, but finds itself in a logjam of four teams separated by just five points.
“We are near and far at the same time. When you look at the table, it’s really competitive between the teams, it’s really tight and anything can happen,” NYCFC coach Patrick Vieira said. “You lose one, two, three games in a row and you’re down to fighting for the last spot. We have to win our next game. We have to bounce back and if we want to stay at the top we have to win football matches.”
Western Conference-leading FC Dallas, which also is atop the race for the Supporters Shield, defeated New England, 4-2, Tuesday night to capture the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Maxi Urruti struck for a brace and Matt Hedges and Mauro Diaz (three assists) added one goal apiece for FC Dallas, which ended a 19-year trophy drought.
FC Dallas has won five games away from home, second only to Toronto FC and NYCFC, which have each won six road games.
“We’re a team that defends well, but we need a clean sheet,” fullback RJ Allen said. “We haven’t had a clean sheet the past couple of games and we need to get back to that. We’re out here every day putting in the work. We’re working hard and we’re working well and we need to focus on getting clean sheets.”
This is the second meeting between the teams, and first at Yankee Stadium. Last September at Toyota Stadium, FC Dallas claimed a 2-1 win.
