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Mathis leads Red Bulls past FC Dallas

Apr 15, 2007 - 10:53 PM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Clint Mathis provided his own storm.

Mathis scored a goal and helped set up another as the New York Red Bulls coasted to a 3-0 victory over road-weary FC Dallas.

Playing their home opener in front of a sparse crowd at Giants Stadium due to a Nor'easter affecting the area, the Red Bulls (1-0-1) had little trouble braving the wet, windy and otherwise miserable conditions thanks to Mathis.

"This was a very good approach to the game," Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena said. "I like the way we played under the conditions we had today. Instead of a nice April day, we got a day of Iceland in December."

A former fan favorite who then endured a rocky finish when he played for the franchise when they were known as the MetroStars from 2000-03, Mathis was acquired by the Red Bulls from Colorado in March.

Inserted into the starting lineup by Arena after playing 29 minutes as a substitute in last week's scoreless draw against Columbus, Mathis made his presence felt.

In the 18th minute, Mathis launched a perfect corner kick that was headed home by 17-year-old Josmer Altidore for his first goal of the season, giving the Red Bulls a 1-0 lead.

"That's a play we practice during the week and coach told me to stay in front of a defender and see what happens," Altidore said.

Mathis and Altidore hooked up again in the 34th minute. This time, Altidore flicked a quick pass in the box to Mathis, who rifled a shot past goalkeepper Shaka Hislop.

"No mystery of me playing up front or behind," Mathis said. "I'm here to improve, show presence, create while attacking and play more defense."

Mathis drew the praise of Arena.

"He can play in this league and with the loss of Claudio Reyna we needed some balance and Clint did a great job," Mathis said.

The MetroStars-Red Bulls franchise improved to 21-0-4 when Mathis scores.

"I didn't realize the record and I'm happy to be here," Mathis said. "I hope to continue to score and make more wins for this team."

Mathis also continued his success against FC Dallas, registering nine goals in 10 games against the franchise.

The big game for Mathis also helped the Red Bulls make up for the absence of captain Claudio Reyna, who missed the contest with a left leg contusion.

Red Bulls goalkeeper Ronald Wattereus (illness) also didn't play the second half. He was replaced by Jon Conway.

It hardly mattered as FC Dallas (1-1-1), which was playing for the second time in four days after winning at Los Angeles on Thursday night, failed to produce a consistent attack. Dallas has played three times in an eight-day span to start the season.

"We could have used a lot of excuses, but we're not," FC Dallas coach Steve Morrow said. "It was a frustrating day, two soft goals that went in that shouldn't have. It just wasn't there for us today. We just weren't in the right places and things were going against us."

FC Dallas forward Carlos Ruiz also wasn't looking for excuses.

"Both teams had to play in these conditions and on the same field, they just scored and we didn't," he said. "They made better decisions and played a better game. They found the spaces to attack."

Dave van den Bergh added a goal in second-half stoppage time and Dane Richards collected two assists for the Red Bulls, who improved to 13-14-0 all-time against FC Dallas.