FRISCO, Texas -- After starting the 2008 season with a pair of disappointing draws, FC Dallas finished the job with a 2-0 win against the New York Red Bulls at Pizza Hut Park on Saturday night. The Hoops got goals from Arturo Alvarez in the opening minute of play, his second of the year, and a league-leading third goal from Kenny Cooper in the 66th in the win.
"I think we looked dangerous up top throughout the game," FCD head coach Steve Morrow said. "We created some chances in the first half and could have been a couple of more goals up. I think the forwards are looking dangerous at the moment.
"We're very pleased overall. It's a 2-0 win at home, it's a clean sheet at home, which is good. We created lots of chances. At times, we moved the ball very well but we've also got high standards for this team and I still think we can do better and play better."
For much of the evening, FCD maintained good possession of the ball, something that has eluded them in substantial portions of their first two matches.
"I think we're starting to move the ball a bit better," Morrow said. "We see what these guys are capable of in training and at times, they move the ball very well. We haven't quite translated that into the game over 90 minutes yet but I think tonight, we saw a lot of good passing and a lot of good movement. I still think there is better to come."
Alvarez's goal, which came just 51 seconds into the match, was the second-quickest in club history and came after Andre Rocha found the FCD forward open on the left flank. Alvarez sent a great header into the right side of the net from about 15 yards out for the early lead.
"Andre (Rocha) is doing well," Morrow said. "He had another good assist. I think he's still finding his feet and adjusting to the league as well. I think he's going to get better as the season goes on."
FCD's second goal came after defender Adrian Serioux played a great long ball to Cooper, who chipped over the head of Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway. It was Serioux's first career MLS assist.
"I've got to give credit to (Kenny) Cooper for finishing on the run that he did," Serioux said. "That made the pass a lot easier for me. That was something we talked about at halftime, noticing that the defense was playing really tight on him. I told him that as long as he checks in and spins off of them that he could expose them all day and that's what he did. Luckily for us, he was able to put away that opportunity."
For the second consecutive week, the pairing of Alvarez and Cooper up top paid dividends for the Hoops.
"I think we've both had a good start to the year and both know that the season is very long," Alvarez said. "The good thing is that if we come in day in and day out and do everything we need to do in practice, we can help the team as much as possible even if we're not scoring goals by keeping the ball and creating other chances. I think we're going to keep doing that. So far, it's looking good and hopefully, we can continue doing that all year."
Alvarez also credited his teammates for providing great service for both himself and Cooper.
"I think that those guys are doing a great job of putting balls in behind defenses," he said. "I think Kenny and I are making good runs and if they can keep finding us, hopefully we can keep getting good opportunities. As long as we are taking advantage of those opportunities, I think we will be doing good stuff."
Saturday's clean sheet came in FCD's third game of the season. In 2007, the Hoops didn't get their first shutout until a June 14 win at Real Salt Lake, which was their 13th match of the year.
"It feels really good, especially at home," Alvarez said. "We should have two wins by now but unfortunately, we let those six points get away. But I think tonight was a very important win for us. We needed it. We played well and deserved it. We've just got to get the most points possible and look to the future."
Serioux agreed. "We definitely felt that we should have gotten wins out of the first two games but unfortunately, we had some costly mistakes at the end," he said. "We've got one win under our belt and hopefully, we'll carry this momentum into next weekend."
