After losing a 3-1 lead, FC Dallas bounced back to secure a 4-3 win against Real Salt Lake at America First Field on Wednesday night thanks to Ran Binyamin
Binyamin and Joaquín Valiente both netted their first goals of the season, while Petar Musa continued to inch ever closer to breaking the single-season goal record for the Burn.
Lineups and Tactics
With the quick turnaround from Sunday, FC Dallas held a 3-4-3 formation, with Jonathan Sirois earning his 5th start of the season. The backline saw two changes as Nolan Norris (LCB) and Shaq Moore (RCB) were inserted for Sebastien Ibeagha and Lalas Abubakar.
Ramiro (CM) and Kaick (CM) were paired together in the central midfield, with Bernard Kamungo (LWB) and Herman Johansson (RWB) playing out on the wings. Up top, Musa started at the 9.
The double 10s, Santi Moreno (L) and Joaquín Valiente (R), earned their 9th and 13th starts of the season, respectively. Most notably absent from the starting XI was Logan Farrington, who continues to rotate on and off the bench.
The home side sported a 3-4-3 formation as well, which mirrored a 5-2-3 at times. In goal, Rafael Cabral earned his 19th start of the season. The backline consisted of Lukas Engel (LCB), Juan Jose Arias (CB), and Philip Quinton (RCB).
Juan Sanabria (LWB) and DeAndre Yedlin (RWB) started out wide at wingback, while being paired with Noel Caliskan (CM) and Stijn Spierings (CM) in the central midfield. With the departure of Zavier Gozo to Crystal Palace, there was a bit of cohesion missing in the midfield for RSL.
Up top, Sergi Solans, who leads the team in goals, started at ST. Diego Luna (LW) and Morgan Guilavogui (RW) started in a double-10 similar to FCD. Most notably absent from the starting lineup was Justen Glad, who has been sidelined with a groin injury since May of this year.
The Game
Dallas got the scoring started in the 17th minute after Moreno attempted to play a bit of a give-and-go with Musa. The ball was deflected away by Arias and onto the foot of Valiente. Without hesitation, Valiente blasted home his 1st goal of the season to give Dallas an early 1-0 lead.
Minutes later, Dallas doubled their lead. In the 20th minute, Kamungo tried to dance around his defender; however, he ended up playing it back to Valiente. The Uruguayan forward played a cross toward the back post, where a leaping Musa headed it past Cabral for his 15th goal of the season.
In the 38th minute, RSL managed to pull one back. After Luna played a cross into the box, the ball trickled past a couple of players before deflecting off Solans and in, to make it 2-1 in favor of the away side.
Just before half, in the 45th minute, the Burn regained their 2-score lead after Moore made a run down the left side. His cross into the box found Valiente, who laid it off to Musa. The MLS leading goal scorer set his feet and buried his 16th goal of the season and extended their 3-1 lead.
“We started the game beautifully,” Head Coach Eric Quill said. “For the first 30 minutes we were carrying the game, scored two great goals, but then we got careless. People talk about the 2-0 lead and how dangerous it is, and it was dangerous for us tonight. We let them get the momentum back late in the half but got another goal to give us the 3-1 lead.”
It only took a couple of minutes in the second half for RSL to get back into the game. In the 50th minute, after progressing the ball forward, Luna played Caliskan through. Caliskan played it back towards Guilavogui in the box, who settled it and flicked it past Sirois to make it 3-2.
RSL completed their comeback in the 64th minute after Luna found the back of the net for his 5th of the season. Guilavogui played the ball out wide to Saba Lobjanidze, who quickly lobbed it toward the box, where Luna’s head connected with the ball and ultimately tied the game.
But FC Dallas wasn’t finished thanks to one man. Ran Binyamin made a run up the right side of the box in the 91st minute. He then cut inwards onto his right foot and fired a shot from just on the edge of the box. He scored his 1st goal in an FC Dallas uniform and ultimately helped secure the 4-3 win.
“I’m usually not in this winger position, but I’ve been working really hard on this exact type of moment every day,” Binyamin said. “I’m really happy I managed to pull it off in a game, and that it was the winning goal. I’m really happy for the team and the staff who have helped me improve and show my quality on the pitch.”
After an incredible performance, it’s hard not to name Joaquín Valiente our Man of the Match. Valiente assisted two goals, scored one himself, and finished with an xG + xA of 1.09. In many respects, coach Quill finally found a way to get the most out of his forward.
Up next, FC Dallas travels to BC Place to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, August 22nd at 8:30 pm CT. The Whitecaps are currently 11-4-4 on the season.
I find the headline rather disparaging to FCD. You choose to emphasize the negative when this team has now gone 6-2-2 in all competitions where all of those matches have been away from home. Not cool.