FC Dallas kicked off the Generation adidas Cup with a 1-0 win over the New York Red Bulls in the Champions Division Group A.

Saturday's stormy weather postponed what should have been Dallas' opening fixture against Premier League side West Ham United. Instead, as the Hammers also recorded a 1-0 against Club America, the weather may have set up a fantastic group finale on Monday afternoon.

Dallas came into the game without some of its bigger names. Ricardo Pepi - fresh off a game winning goal in last night's North Texas SC game - was in street clothes as he supported the players from the bench. Dante Sealy settled for a place on the bench after also featuring in the USL League One game. Beni Redzic was with the U19s, and Diego Letayf is missing the tournament through injury.

The FC Dallas U-17 starting lineup vs New York Red Bulls on 4/14/19 (Dan Crooke / 3rd Degree)

By now you know the style and formation FC Dallas are going to play. David Rodriguez took up his spot at the top of the midfield but had a rather muted performance. That was possibly related to a nasty two-footed lunge by New York's Tapiwa Shumba that amazingly didn't produce a card.

Roster management was the name of the game with a game against Club America tonight at 8:30 PM. Only one sub was made, with Dante Sealy replacing Ayden Nocus for the final 15 minutes after Nocus took a whack on his hip. With the nature of the 50-minute group games, it's not surprising to see a lack of action on the bench.

Goals

There was only one and I didn't fully appreciate it until I saw the angle MLS tweeted. It started as a long ball that wasn't particularly threatening. A Red Bulls defender was caught wrong-footed on what should have been a comfortable head start to a clearance, but instead

Diego Maynez

is able to get to it first with a neat volley close to the penalty spot.

David Rodriguez could have put Dallas ahead in the first 90 seconds as a Cesar Garcia free kick from the half seemed to evade every player in red. The ball made its way through to Rodriguez at the edge of the six-yard-box but he was unable to get enough behind his header.

Collin Smith (shout out for the number 1 as an outfield player!) had a similar chance just three minutes later from a Nocus corner.

The Red Bulls also had their chances, producing a great tip save from Seth Wilson in the 23rd minute. Andrew Maia bombed down the right wing and played a low cross that left Roald Mitchell with a tap-in. Wilson tipped the shot straight up, and had enough time to recover and punch the second ball clear.

In a brief spell of pressure, New York thought they had an equalizer. Wilson had saved a shot which fell kindly to Amir Daley. Daley looked to head the ball into the top left corner beyond Wilson's reach before Justin Che comes out of nowhere to head clear from close to the line.

Thoughts and Observations

Takeaways can be tough in a game like this. The team was disrupted by their first game being postponed, losing players to the U-19s, resting NTXSC players, and having a second game later tonight. FC Dallas were comfortable in the win without needing to push beyond second gear.

Nico Carrera was solid at the back. One thing that always sticks out when I go to FC Dallas practices is how loud and authoritative he is in U-17 training...on a different field. That definitely reflects in his game as he directed traffic and did the dirty work when a ball needed to just be cleared out.

Michael Sosa was a lot of fun to watch. His pattern of movement on the left wing is exactly what seemed to be missing from FC Dallas the past few games. Sosa switched with Maynez a fair bit prior to Sealy coming on in the second half.

Sealy looked lively, immediately winning a corner then a free kick in a dangerous spot. I'm fairly sure he was given the instruction to frustrate the Red Bulls back line into making mistakes. He wasn't going to great lengths to get the ball into Maynez as much as win dead balls. Again, game and roster management. There's no point tiring Sealy out in a game that's already won.

Dallas seemed to mostly preserve themselves ahead of tonight's game, which will be streamed on Twitch at 8:30 PM. A win over Club America would assure a spot in the quarter finals and set up a clash to decide the group winner with West Ham on Monday afternoon.