After conceding late in tonight’s game, FC Dallas found a way to defeat Toronto FC at home in Toyota Stadium by a score of 3-2, to secure the first of what the club hopes is many wins on the season. The pairing of Petar Musa and Logan Farrington proved to be too much for a relatively new Toronto FC lineup.
To kick off the season, the Burn rolled out a familiar lineup – the infamous 3-5-2, which they sported for the final third of last season. With Martin Paes being sold to Ajax, Michael Collodi officially stepped in as GK1 on the depth chart.
In front of him, Shaq Moore slid over to LCB, with the new signing Herman Johansson playing RWB. On the left side, Bernard Kamungo got the start at wing back over highly-rated rookie Ricky Louis, with Sebastian Ibheagha returning with Osaze Urhogide alongside him on the backline, both at CB.
In the midfield, Christian Cappis and Kaick played off each other as dual-eights, with Ramiro playing the 6. The attacking duo of Musa and Farrington were the team’s strikers up top, as expected.
On the opposing half of the field, Toronto FC (on paper) held a 4-2-3-1, but their shape was quite fluid with Djordje Mihailovic floating between a false nine and dual-striker all night. Alongside him up top was Derrick Etienne Jr who was the team’s primary forward.
In the midfield, Jonathan Osorio captained the away side in the defensive midfield alongside Alonso Coello. Most notably absent from tonight’s starting XI was Theo Corbeanu, who was held out with a knee injury. The Canadian-born forward finished with 6 goals and 2 assists through 32 games last season.
In the backline, a familiar face was welcomed back as Walker Zimmerman was paired with Kose Thompson at CB. Richie Laryea and Kobe Franklin played out wide as the team’s left and right back, respectively. In net, Luke Gavran started in place of Sean Johnson, whose option was not picked up by the team at the end of last season.
FC Dallas started out hot with Musa finding the back of the net in the 9th minute. Osaze (yes, really) somehow found the ball in the box after two Toronto defenders collided with each other. Osaze passed it towards Musa, who netted his first goal of the season and gave the Burn an early 1-0 lead.
“I thought our aggressiveness and our vertical play were clear,” FC Dallas Head Coach Eric Quill said. “If you were in the stadium and know the game, you saw a front-footed, aggressive, vertical style. That is who we are. It is part of our identity. We want to be in your face.”
The excitement was short-lived, however, as Mihailovic would tie it up at 1. After a giveaway by Johansson in the 15th minute, Osorio was able to thread a pass to Mihailovic, who was wide open in the box for an easy goal. Moore had tried to clear with the ball with a diving slide attempt, but was a bit off the mark. Unfortunately for Dallas, Mihailovic wasn’t.
Farrington would get on the score sheet after Musa sent a long ball over the top of the defense in the 38th minute. Farrington was able to battle his defender for position, won the ball, threw a fake shot in there for fun, and buried it with his left foot to give the Burn a 2-1 lead.
After halftime, Toronto would tie up the game with a goal of its own. In the 67th (insert 6-7 joke here) minute, Etienne Jr. was lucky enough to find a loose ball in the box after Daniel Salloi’s shot was saved but was unable to be corralled by Collodi. Etienne Jr. chipped it over Collodi and leveled the game at 2.
Thankfully for Dallas, and for all of the Burn faithful who made the trip out to Frisco tonight, Musa would find his brace and the game-winning goal.
In the 74th minute, Kamungo played a through ball to Farrington down the left wing. Farrington cut the ball back onto his right foot, whipped it into the box, and found a leaping Musa who headed past Gavran to seal the win.
An incredible way to start off the season, 3 points from your home opener, and your pairing of strikers already looking to be in mid-season form.
“Their hold-up play was impressive tonight,” Coach Quill said. “Our ability to skip lines, play into them, and watch them body Zimmerman and Thompson, collect the ball, and let numbers join was huge. That is very effective in a two-front. With our pace wide and our midfield underneath, it gave us what we needed.”
With that in mind, there were a few players who stood out tonight. Farrington with two points, Ramiro with a surprisingly solid game, and even Osaze, who opened the game up with an assist. However, my Man of the Match tonight was the Croatian Los (also known as moose in his native language), Petar Musa.
Being the team’s 3rd player ever to score a brace in a home opener will almost always secure your MotM award in my book. Along with his two goals, he was also a contributing factor in Farrington’s goal as well.
“I’m very happy about the two goals, but the most important thing is the three points.” FC Dallas forward Petar Musa said. “Logan Farrington played an amazing game up front with me. I think we both had a good match, but that’s because of the entire team. They helped us in every situation, especially defensively. I’m very happy with the performance.”
Up next, FC Dallas welcomes Nashville SC to Toyota Stadium on Saturday, February 28th at 7:30 pm CT. Nashville SC is currently 1-0-0 on the season.
