Kennedy Earns First Shutout Of Season As Chivas USA Draws FC Dallas
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Dan Kennedy earned his first shutout of the season helping Chivas USA to a scoreless draw with FC Dallas on Thursday night.
Chivas (3-10-4) extended its winless streak to 12, while Dallas has gone five straight without a victory. Dallas (8-3-7) sits two points behind Real Salt Lake atop the Western Conference.
There were plenty of chances for both teams, though neither could take advantage.
Chivas outshot Dallas 17-6, holding a 6-1 advantage on shots on goal.
Dallas sent its first 10 shots off target, missing the goal by inches on several occasions. Chivas kept rifling shots that were blocked by Dallas defenders, including four shots in one sequence in the 54th minute.
Jackson nearly put Dallas on the board in the 85th minute when he headed a cross just wide of the post. One minute later, Kennedy made a toe save on Blas Perez's header.
Both teams squandered stoppage-time free-kick opportunities to saddle them with a point each.
Dallas had three strong scoring opportunities in the opening 10 minutes of the game, including a strong showing on early set pieces.
Defender Stephen Keel, making his first start for Dallas, just missed a header six minutes in on a corner, which would have been the 30-year-old's first career MLS goal. Four minutes later, Michel's left-footed free kick from about 30 yards didn't quite curl back far enough, caroming off the far post.
From there, Chivas' backline tightened in the middle as the visitors starting pressing up and limiting the Dallas chances to ones created on the wings.
Chivas, still looking for its first win under coach Jose Luis Real, who replaced Jose Luis Sanchez Sola at the end of May, found its footing in the final 15 minutes of the first half. Eric Avila, who played for Dallas from 2008-11, had a ground shot from about 25 yards stopped by a diving Raul Fernandez in the 30th minute.
Avila's attempt triggered a string of shots to end the half, including Jose Correa's about-face shot from six yards out that just went wide when he found the ball off a neat back heel from Walter Vilchez following a corner.
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