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Sala continues shutout streak as FC Dallas defeats Chivas

Jul 5, 2007 - 2:37 AM FRISCO, Texas (Ticker) -- Dario Sala recorded his third straight shutout to lead FC Dallas to a 2-0 victory over Chivas USA on Wednesday.

Sala had to make just one save but it was a difficult one. The 32-year-old Sala stopped Laurent Merlin's breakaway attempt in the 20th minute to preserve a scoreless tie.

It was Sala's fourth shutout this season - all of which have come in the last five games - and the 10th of his career.

"All credit to Dario - tonight, he came up big," FC Dallas coach Steve Morrow said. "Once or twice in the first half, they caught us on the counter-attack when we were pushing forward, but Dario came up with a couple of big saves. It was another clean sheet for us, which is very positive."

Ramon Nunez supplied all the offense FC Dallas needed just before intermission. Nunez scored his third goal this season, receiving a pass from Arturo Alvarez and blasting it into the upper left corner past Chivas goalkeeper Preston Burpo in the 41st minute.

"I think we were getting in behind them quite a bit," Nunez said. "I found an opening and Arturo (Alvarez) found me with a great ball and I turned and had a shot. Luckily, it went in."

Nunez entered the game as an injury replacement for Marcello Saragosa.

"Losing Marcello affected the overall shape of the team," Morrow said. "We know he re-aggravated the old injury he had (right MCL) at the beginning of the season. He'll probably be having an MRI tomorrow to see what the full extent of the injury is."

"It was unfortunate for Marcello to go down for me to come in, but I was able to step in there and I think I did a pretty good job for the team," Nunez said.

Dominic Oduro sealed the game in 83rd minute with his third goal of the season. Oduro took a pass from Pablo Ricchetti inside the penalty area and fired it past Burpo to give FC Dallas a 2-0 advantage.

FC Dallas had a flurry of scoring chances early in the second half. Carlos Ruiz missed high in the 47th minute and was blocked by Burpo in the 49th minute, and Nunez nearly scored again in the 51st minute but his shot sailed wide right.

Maykel Galindo nearly had a breakaway for Chivas in the 73rd minute but was called for offsides.

"Whenever you go on the road, we always try to leave with at least one point," Chivas defender Orlando Perez said. "I thought we did pretty well at least for most of the game. We have to put it behind us."