FRISCO, Texas — About the last thing the Sounders needed Sunday was one of their only healthy forwards and biggest scoring threat losing his cool fewer than 37 minutes in.

But that’s what happened in this 3-0 defeat to FC Dallas at Frisco, Texas, when Clint Dempsey delivered a right-handed blow that caught Jacori Hayes in the groin area and sent him collapsing to the turf. Upon video review, Dempsey was sent off with a red card that left his team short-handed the rest of the way.

The Sounders were already down a goal at that point, but had been edging back into it with their first sustained possession of the match deep in Dallas territory. Alas, the Dempsey ejection pretty much ended any Sounders hope and the rest of the game tilted rather lopsidedly in favor of the home side.

“We keep shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit,” Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan said afterwards, in quotes supplied by a league official. “I thought we were getting into the game and then something happens like that and (red card) it alters the game completely, just like a goal.”

Max Urruti doubled the Dallas lead to 2-0 in the 63rd minute when he was allowed too much space to freewheel and then rocketed a blast past goalkeeper Stefan Frei to his left. Roland Lamah made it 3-0 with his second of the match just five minutes later and the Sounders from there were left to hang on and try to avoid an even more embarrassing result.

“It’s tough once you go down a man playing playing against a team that’s confident in warm weather,” Sounders midfielder Harry Shipp said.

The match was forgettable from the start for a depleted Sounders side, now 0-2 and goalless for the season, that put Dempsey up top in the absence of injured striker Will Bruin. But the team’s attack was invisible for most of the first half, lacking any type of speed threat deep. Dallas kept pressing up the field, showing no concern of getting beaten by a pass in behind them.

“Obviously, we didn’t start well,” Shipp said. “I thought we could have been sharper all the way around starting with me and connecting passes.”

As a result, the Sounders spent the early game back on their heels and found themselves down 1-0 when some sloppy defensive play cost them Lamah’s first goal in the 20th minute. After a midfield turnover, Mauro Diaz hit a sprinting Michael Barrios with a perfect pass. Barrios cut inside a beaten Nouhou and delivered a cross to Lamah for one of the easiest tap-in goals he’ll ever score.

The Sounders responded to the goal with some of their best sustained pressure of the match. But Dempsey’s ejection effectively killed any momentum generated. Frei helped keep his team in it at halftime with a pair of terrific stops. He was helped on the second of those saves by Kelvin Leerdam, who stopped a rebound shot that was headed into a wide open net.

But there were few other highlights for the Sounders, who had their best scoring chance late when Gustav Svensson had a long attempt from distance deflected away at the last instant.

“We need to play better,” Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. “I don’t mind if teams beat us and they play better than us. But before the red card, we didn’t play up to our potential. That’s something I have to take responsibility for, making sure the team comes out right, plays better.”

Dempsey’s poor judgment in delivering the blow on Hayes didn’t help.

“There are always challenges here in Dallas,” Schmetzer said. “And after the red card, it was an uphill battle for sure.”