Unfortunately, stats don’t win games, as FC Dallas outshot and outpossessed the Columbus Crew at Toyota Stadium, but ultimately lost 2-0. The Burn’s home unbeaten streak came to an end after 167 days.
Lineups and Tactics
Dallas held a 3-4-3 formation, with Daniel earning his 9th start of the season in goal. The backline saw 1 change as Sebastien Ibeagha was replaced by Nolan Norris at LCB. Osaze Urhoghide anchored the backline at CB for his 26th start.
The midfield saw 2 changes, with Ran Binyamin replacing Herman Johansson at RWB. Bernard Kamungo was paired opposite Binyamin at LWB. Christian Cappis and Ramiro were linked together as central defensive midfielders.
Up top, both Daniel Job and Joaquín Valiente were replaced by Santi Moreno and Patrickson Delgado as the team’s dual 10’s. Petar Musa started at ST for his 23rd time this season. Most notably absent from the starting XI was Logan Farrington, who’s still dealing with a lower-body injury.
The Crew also maintained a 3-4-3 formation, with Patrick Schulte in goal for his 32nd start. The backline consisted of Malte Amundsen (LCB), Sean Zawadzki (CB), and Steven Moreira (RCB). All 3 defenders now have at least 26 starts this season.
Brooks Lennon (LWB) and Mohamed Farsi (RWB) started out wide on the wings, while Taha Habroune and Dylan Chambost were paired together as CDM’s. Most notably absent in the midfield for the Crew was Diego Rossi, who led the team in goals before departing for CF Monterrey back in July.
Gonzalo Tapia started up top at ST for the 4th time this season, with Anass Zaroury and Santiago Rodríguez at LW and RW, respectively. Zaroury earned his 6th start and Rodríguez his 10th start of the season.
The Game
Columbus opened up the scoring in the 18th minute on a counter, after Rodríguez played Zaroury through toward goal. As Zaroury made his run, he crossed a low ball into the box, where a sliding Tapia tapped home the game’s first goal. Despite some speculation about whether or not Zaroury was onside, the ref deemed that he was, and the Crew took an early 1-0 lead.
“I think we were stunned because we felt like we were having our way in those first 15 minutes,” Head Coach Eric Quill said. “We were playing on the front foot and felt like it was going to be another quality night for us. That’s what goals can do.”
Dallas bounced back in the 2nd half, or so fans thought. In the 60th minute, Shaq Moore played a cross into the box, which found its way to Kamungo. The wingback made a couple of dribbles toward goal before crossing it back to Moore, who pinged a shot into the bottom left corner.
However, after further review, it was determined by the referee that Musa was in an offside position on the cross to Kamungo and interfered with the play, despite not touching the ball. The Crew’s lead remained at 1-0.
“It might have been offside,” coach Quill said. “It was really close, but the player let the ball go over his head, so it was a nonfactor in how the goal developed. But that was the kind of night we were having, where everything seemed to be going wrong.”
Nearly 10 minutes later, Columbus doubled their lead. Habroune played a cross into the box, and it was headed by Tapia before being saved by Daniel. However, the follow-up shot from Rodríguez (which appeared to also have been saved) was tapped home, giving the Crew a 2-0 lead.
Despite numerous opportunities in the final 20+ minutes, Dallas couldn’t find a way to climb back into the game. No big chances, 2 yellow cards, and an xG of 0.49 in the 2nd half ultimately led to the loss for the home side.
“Credit to Columbus,” coach Quill said. “I thought they defended well as a team. We also thought we could take advantage of our size on set pieces, but we didn’t capitalize on those opportunities. You can’t be perfect every night.”
Even with the loss, Petar Musa had himself a solid night. Our Man of the Match created the most chances (3) for either team, had the most touches (8) in the opposition’s box, and completed 84% of his 38 passes. The Moose once again did just about everything he could to help his team win… except score.
Up next, FC Dallas travels to Sporting Park to take on Sporting KC on Saturday, October 31st at 2:00 pm CT. SKC are currently 6-22-4 on the season.