After going up 2-0 early in the game, FC Dallas would end up drawing against the LA Galaxy 2-2 at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night. Despite the missed opportunity for three points, FC Dallas is now unbeaten in 5 straight games.
Lineups and Tactics
The Burn held a 3-4-2-1 formation, which differed slightly from their previous game against St. Louis City. With Ramiro, Bernard Kamungo, and Anderson Julio still out, Dallas turned to their bench to find some changes.
On the backline, Herman Johansson was inserted back into the starting lineup, with Nolan Norris moving to the bench as a reserve. Shaq Moore slid over to LCB, and Louicius Deedson kept his spot at LWB. In goal, Michael Collodi started again for his 8th straight game of the season.
In the midfield, Joaquin Valiente replaced Patrickson Delgado at CAM, and Kaick replaced Ramiro at CM. Up top, as always, the Pairington of Petar Musa and Logan Farrington started as the team’s dual strikers.
Opposite FC Dallas, the Galaxy sported a 3-4-3 formation, with JT Marcinkowski in goal for his 4th start of the season. Captain Maya Yoshida anchored the backline for the 5th time this season, with former FC Dallas player John Nelson earning his 1st start at LWB.
In the midfield, another familiar face returned to Toyota Stadium as Edwin Cerrillo made his 7th start at CM. Up top, the team’s leading goal scorer, João Klauss, started at ST with Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil on either side of him on the wings. Most notably absent from the starting XI was Marco Reus, who is second on the team in goals.
The Game
It was clear early on that Dallas wanted to avenge the previous week’s result, and in the 7th minute, we had our first glimpse into what would end up a high-scoring affair between these two teams.
After Yoshida misplayed a pass back to Marcinkowski, Musa intercepted the pass with green grass between him and the keeper. With space in front of him, the (now) Golden Boot leader made a run and slotted home his 8th goal of the season and gave Dallas an early 1-0 lead.
It only took about half an hour for Dallas to double that early lead. In the 38th minute, Farrington played Christian Cappis out wide. Cappis took a touch and crossed in a low shot to find Musa at the end of a sliding effort. Dallas led 2-0, with less than 10 minutes left in the first half.
“We need to improve our discipline because I think we’re going to have leads often,” Head Coach Eric Quill said. “We have great quality, and we can score goals with the best teams. The question is whether we can see out those leads, keep our foot on the gas, and stay disciplined when we’re ahead.”
That lead wouldn’t last long, though, as the Galaxy answered right back in the 43rd minute. Paintsil played Sanabria in the box, who cut it back onto his right foot. The Galaxy’s winger’s shot was deflected in for their first goal of the game.
Just as Dallas thought they were going to go into halftime with the lead, the Galaxy answered again. Three minutes into stoppage time of the first half, Mauricio Cuevas played a ball to Pec, who then split a pass between Cappis and Osaze Urhoghide, to find Pantsil. The winger blasted home the Galaxy’s second goal of the game and tied it at 2-2.
“In that situation, you have to lock in and understand how important those final 10 to 12 minutes before halftime are when you’re up 2-0,” coach Quill said. “On the two goals, we had numbers behind the ball. It wasn’t about being outnumbered. It was little details that changed the game, and we know those moments can’t happen.”
In the second half, FC Dallas thought they had finally regained the lead when, in the 75th minute, Kaick found the back of the net after a ball into the box was poked in by the Brazilian. However, the referees later ruled that Osaze was offside.
Unfortunately for the Burn, that would be one of their final major chances of the second half. A less-than-desirable 45 minutes in which the Galaxy managed to flip the possession, outshoot FC Dallas, and walk away with a point in a game that could have easily gone in favor of the home side.
It was clear FC Dallas came to fight against the Galaxy, albeit for only 38 minutes. Petar Musa seemed to be on a whole other level as he finished the game with his third multi-goal game of the season. With a 78% passing accuracy, an xG of 1.10, and having created 2 chances, our Man of the Match was in large part the reason this team managed to hold off losing all three points.
Up next, FC Dallas welcomes Minnesota United to Toyota Stadium on Saturday, April 22nd at 7:30 pm CT. The Loons are currently 4-2-2 on the season.