After winning their first matchup in the Leagues Cup, FC Dallas secured their second win of the tournament against Chivas Guadalajara at PayPal Park. The Burn are now 2-0-0 through 2 rounds of the Leagues Cup.
Lineups and Tactics
For their 2nd Leagues Cup game, Dallas held a 3-4-3 formation, with Jonathan Sirois earning his 3rd consecutive start of the season in goal. The backline saw one change from their previous match against Querétaro FC as Shaq Moore (LCB) replaced Osaze Urhoghide at CB.
In the midfield, a couple of additional changes were made as Kaick (CM) replaced Clay Holstad and Ramiro (CM) replaced Christian Cappis. Out wide on the wings, Bernard Kamungo (LWB) and Herman Johansson (RWB) swapped wingback positions from their previous game.
Up top, Sam Sarver (RW) was inserted for Santi Moreno, and Petar Musa replaced Anderson Julio, who picked up an injury against Querétaro. Most notably absent from the starting XI was Patrickson Delgado, who has 3 goals in the MLS this season.
The home side (who were not playing at their home stadium) adopted a 3-5-2 formation, with Rubén González playing as a 6. Alongside him in the midfield, Bryan González (LM), Roberto Alvarado (CM), Omar Govea (CM), and Richard Ledezma (RM) all earned their 2nd Leagues Cup start.
In goal, Raúl Rangel earned his 2nd consecutive start of the season. Chivas mirrored Dallas by fielding three defenders on the backline, which consisted of Miguel Gómez (LCB), Luis Romo (CB), and Diego Campillo (RCB).
Up top, Armando González and Ángel Sepúlveda started as dual strikers. Sepúlveda replaced Efraín Álvarez, who started their last game in the midfield for Chivas. Most notably absent from the starting XI was Santiago Sandoval, who had 4 goals in Liga MX Clausura for Chivas last season.
The Game
The first half was almost entirely dominated by Chivas, who controlled 76% of possession through the first 45 minutes of action. Dallas recorded 3 shots; however, none of them were on target. Chivas, on the other hand, accumulated 9 total shots, with one of those being on target.
“It was a bit chaotic in the first half. We knew that they were going to have the lion’s share of possession. Most teams do against us, and we’re okay with that. It’s more about what we do with our limited possession,” Head Coach Eric Quill said.
In the 73rd minute, Dallas broke through for their first goal of the game. After Musa started the break, the ball worked out wide before finding its way to Logan Farrington. After cutting it back onto his left foot, Farrington tucked the ball into the back post for the 1-0 lead.
“I thought the team played great, had a lot of energy, and the game was very open,” Farrington said. “I just had the chance to put it away, and that’s what I did. It was a great ball by Santi (Moreno) across the goal. So it was everything we trained and just put into practice.”
In the 90th minute, Chivas played a free kick near the touchline, which was punched away by Sirois. Despite adding a couple of additional chances in the additional 7 minutes of stoppage time, Dallas held on to win their 2nd Leagues Cup game, 1-0.
“At Dallas, we have ambitions to make a name for ourselves and grow to the higher stardoms of the game, and results like this give FC Dallas immense pride, our fan base pride, but also respect,” coach Quill said. “We’re not a finished version of ourselves; we want to keep growing and getting better.”
For the sake of not repeating the same player for a 3rd game now, Santi Moreno is my Man of the Match. With his lone assist on the night and 3 chances created, tonight’s 44 minutes of action were just what the doctor ordered for the Colombian forward.
Up next, FC Dallas travels to Estadio Nemesio Díez to take on Toluca FC on Saturday, August 12th at 9:00 pm CT. Toluca are currently 1-0-0 in the Leagues Cup.