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Alvarez, Gbandi score to continue dominance over RSL

May 21, 2007 - 4:14 AM FRISCO, Texas (Ticker) -- In search of their longest winning streak in nearly a year, FC Dallas could not have picked a better opponent.

Arturo Alvarez and Chris Gbandi scored goals as Dallas maintained its recent dominance over Real Salt Lake, posting a 2-1 victory at Pizza Hut Park on Sunday.

Dallas, which has scored 13 goals to rank among the league leaders, is on a three-game winning streak for the first time since July 8-22, 2006. Dallas is 7-2-1 all-time against Real.

Alvarez scored his first goal of the season on a spectacular play in the first half for Dallas. He deked two RSL defenders on the left side and fired a left-to-right kick past goalkeeper Nick Rimando for a 1-0 advantage.

"Growing up my whole life, I played forward and I like being close to the goal," Alvarez said. "I used to be out wide and now I'm in the left middle. I wouldn't mind playing up at the top more."

In the 81st minute and the contest tied at 1-1, Dallas took the lead back for good as Gbandi fired a shot from about 20 yards that hit the top of the right post and bounced into the left corner of the net to give Dallas a 2-1 lead. The goal was the first for Gbandi since he scored against San Jose on July 2, 2005.

"I got the ball from Pablo (Ricchetti) and thought about crossing it, but then I thought I never really shoot the ball, so I just hit it and never really knew where it was going," Gbandi said. "Luckily, it hit the back of the net."

"Quite frankly, both of FC Dallas' goals were wonder goals," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "They were just incredible individual efforts. Tactically, they did some brilliant things offensively."

Real took advantage of a foul by Dallas defender Alex Yi midway through the second half, when he grabbed the jersey of Atiba Harris as the forward had broken away from the pack.

Freddy Adu subsequently converted a penalty kick - his first goal of the season - past Dallas goalkeeper Dario Sala in the 69th minute, tying the game at 1-1 and marking the first goal on a penalty kick that Sala has allowed this season.

RSL, which remains winless through seven contests, suffered its fifth loss of the campaign.

"It's getting very frustrating," Adu said. "We're only seven games into the season, but we can't keep saying that it's early. We don't have time to keep starting over and trying to get going. Right now, what we're doing is just not good enough. We don't want to get ties - we want to get wins."

FC Dallas captain Carlos Ruiz earned a one-game suspension when he picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the 73rd minute.

Dallas has defeated RSL in all five meetings at Pizza Hut Park. The game also first time that Kreis, a former FC Dallas star, has coached against his former team.

"I'm really disappointed in the way my team came out at the beginning of the game," Kreis said. "Our effort in the majority of the first half just wasn't good enough. The way (we) came out and reacted at the beginning of the second half, I was pleased with."