One of the biggest problems FC Dallas has been dealing with this year has been an inability to play through the middle. That came to an end at Austin with a 3-4-3 formation leading to transition play through the center channel and a 2-1 win.
The Set Up
The 3-4-3 uses two 10s under a striker and, when played correctly, quite a narrow shape up top.
With Santiago Moreno and Joaquín Valiente filling those two roles, along with the Ramiro and Christian Cappis double pivot underneath and two wingbacks in Bernie Kamungo and Herman Johansson, FCD often had 6 players in the middle third, allowing for the aforementioned midfield domination and the sudden ability to play through.
Even if at times, they seemed to not know what to do with it.
Sebastian Ibeagha and Lalas Abubakar joined Osaze Urhoghide in the back three with Nolan Norris suspended and Shaq Moore rested.
Austin FC also used a 3-4-3, but their wings and wingbacks played high, leaving them outnumbered in midfield. They clearly overloaded their left, with little success.
As you can see from this graphic (made by MLS Analytics @mlsstat.bsky.social), FCD’s box outnumbered Austin 4 to 3 in the center of the park, and despite Austin’s higher possession (63% to 37%), the play through the middle led FCD to get 15 shots with 6 on target, with an xG of 1.7 to Austin’s 0.8 (on 9 shots, 3 on target).
FCD went 38% up the middle; that was their leading channel of attack. I’m not sure that’s happened before this season.
“I was really pleased from start to finish. We started really bright and were very collective. Against a team like Austin that has such great players, we have to be super organized first. We were organized; we were pressing out of our lines with velocity and doing everything we wanted to do to execute. We had a lot of good looks in the first half. I thought we dominated the first half, which was not easy to do in a place like Austin with a great crowd behind them. I thought we silenced them and found the goal we needed.
Head Coach Eric Quill
Goals
After several opportunities to score that seemed like they might come back to haunt FCD (Kamungo and Valiente), FC Dallas went up 1-0 on a header by Abubakar.
“I love set pieces. It’s one of my strengths,” Abubakar said. “I had one earlier that I should have scored, but I missed, and I was like, ‘I need to get the next one.’ I was telling Ibeagha, ‘I need to get the next one.’ Fortunately, that was a great ball by Santi, and I was left unmarked. I just put it in the back of the net.”
In the second half, Ervin Torre of Austin FC found himself outside the box with the ball in a position that central mids often don’t get closed down by FCD. But this time Ramiro actually got to the man, only to get beaten. Then Valiente also got to Torre and also got beaten. The game was tied 1-1.
Thankfully for FC Dallas fans, Musa found a moment when Valiente fed him the ball with enough space for Musa to cut back and bang a shot in off the post. A fantastic game-winner, stepping into the lone spot atop the MLS Golden Boot race with 14 on the season.
“We know how special every game is, but we always want to beat Austin,” Musa said after the game. “I am very happy with the three points, but I am proud of the overall team performance from the first minute. We put in the work tonight. I am very happy. We put in the work every day. We defend together and strike together.”
A Note on Moreno
It turns out, based on something the commentators on the game said, that Santi Moreno is playing hurt with a pubis injury that (maybe?) needs surgery this offseason. So he’s limited to about 60 to 70 minutes and is probably a big part of why he’s not the DP-level player most people expected.
More played really well with 6 chances created and 93% passing. Maybe his best game of the year. I was flabbergasted that he was lifted at 70 minutes, until Mo Edu commented on the injury.
Up Next
FC Dallas heads to Real Salt Lake on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at America First Field before heading to BC Place to take on Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday, Aug. 22. Both games kick off at 8:30 p.m. CT and will stream on Apple TV.
“Psychologically, it’s massive,” Coach Quill said of the win, “just because these are three great opponents: Austin, Salt Lake and Vancouver. We have to give ourselves the best mindset possible, and tonight was the first step of that. We accomplished that, but we have to stay humble, stay hungry and get ourselves turned around because we have a tough game coming up in Salt Lake.”