Bradley Carnell did not have to look at the replay Saturday night.
The City SC coach was well aware the injury to talented midfielder Celio Pompeu was serious.
Pompeu went down in a hard collision with FC Dallas defender Nkosi Tafari in the 13th minute of the teams’ match at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
“We have a game where it gets kind of sidetracked with Celio’s horrific injury,†Carnell said. “Not sure of the exact details. It didn’t look good at the first visual.â€
Pompeu did not return to ºüÀêÊÓƵ with the team and remained in a Dallas-area hospital overnight.
City SC got off to a solid start, but the match went south soon after the eight-minute delay as Pompeu was stretchered off the field with what looked like a bad leg injury.
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FC Dallas used a penalty-kick goal by Jesus Ferreira in the 28th minute to go in front on the way to a 2-0 win. It was the third goal of the season for Ferreira, who played on the U.S. World Cup team in 2022.
City SC (3-5-9) is winless in its past six matches, the longest skid in the short history of the franchise. Its last win was a 3-1 triumph over Chicago on May 11.
FC Dallas (4-8-5) snapped a five-match MLS winless streak in its first game under interim coach Peter Luccin. Nico Estevez was fired on Monday, June 10, after leading FC Dallas since the start of the 2022 season.
Pompeu, who had three goals over his first 16 matches, helped City SC get off to a solid start. Then things started to go downhill after he left the pitch.
“Seeing Celio’s injury was the darkest part of the game,†City SC forward Eduard Lowen said. “It looked so bad.â€
Pompeu was not the only City SC starter to do down. Joakim Nilsson left in the 36th minute because of an apparent hamstring injury. Nilsson was replaced by Josh Yaro on the back line.
Despite the bad luck on the injury front, City SC outplayed FC Dallas for long stretches. It outshot the hosts 22-10 and fired eight shots on goal at FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes, who recorded his fourth shutout of the season.
For the second consecutive match and fifth time in 11 games, City SC was shut out. It tied 0-0 in its last contest June 8 against Portland despite 15 shots in that match.
“The team still did a good job,†Lowen said. “It’s frustrating that we fly out of Dallas without any points.â€
Ferreira blasted his penalty kick to the right of goalkeeper Roman Burki, who guessed wrong and dived to his left.
Nilsson was whistled for a foul on Paul Arriola in the box to necessitate the PK.
“At the end the day, we lost the game because we didn’t use the chances we had,†Lowen said.
That has become a familiar theme for City SC. It has recorded 37 shots, 12 on goal, over the past two matches without a tally.
“The thing is we have to stop feeling sorry for ourselves,†Carnell said. “We have to be critical in our evaluation. We have to share when it’s not good enough.â€
Tafari put the match away for FC Dallas by scoring on a header off a corner kick from Sebastian Lletget in the 81st minute.
City SC came out strong in the opening minutes of the contest, dictating pace and possession until the Pompeu injury.
Still, City SC regained its offensive form late in the opening half and created numerous chances in the second half as well. Lowen had six shots, and Klauss added five.
City SC’s best chance may have come late in the first half when Akil Watts put a perfect cross on the head of Nokkvi Thorisson, who replaced Pompeu. Paes made a save on the blast.
“We dominated in a lot of areas,†Carnell said. “The more problems that come your way, you either have a belief system or you drift away. It’s our job to make sure that we’re all connected and we share a common belief.â€
At the midway point of its season, City SC has 18 points and sits 11th, three points out of playoff position in the Western Conference. The top nine teams in each conference advance to the postseason.
City SC will try and right the ship with a couple of home matches this week. It faces Colorado (7-7-4, 25 points) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Atlanta (4-8-5, 17 points) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
City SC defender Tim Parker picked up a yellow card in the 35th minute and will miss the next match because of yellow card accumulation.
Oh, Canada
City SC defender Kyle Hiebert was not available after he was selected to play for Canada in the Copa America tournament, which begins next week. He was on Canada’s roster for a pair of friendlies and played a few minutes late to help Canada close a 0-0 tie last week at France.
The Winnipeg, Ontario, native learned early Saturday he made his country’s final 26-player roster. He was one of 13 MLS players called up to the Canadian squad by new coach Jesse Marsch.
Hiebert has started six matches for City SC this season. He will miss at least four SC matches, maybe more depending on how long Canada remains in the tournament.
Canada will play Argentina in the tournament opener at 7 p.m. Thursday in Atlanta.
Copa America matches will take place in 14 stadiums in 13 cities across the United States. It will conclude July 14 with the final in Miami.
Moving on up
City SC has signed midfielder John Klein on a short-term loan agreement from its City2 squad. He came into Saturday’s contest in the 77th minute.
Klein, who played at ºüÀêÊÓƵ University from 2018 to 2022, has four goals and two assists in 12 matches for City2, which plays in the MLS Next Pro loop.
“When I came on, I just wanted to create something,†said Klein, who graduated from Rock Bridge High in Columbia, Missouri. “But when the result goes this way, it’s a little disappointing.â€