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Match Recap: FC Dallas Premieres on Sunday Night Soccer with 2-1 Win over Austin FC

8.16 DL

MATCH NOTES

  • Forward Petar Musa leads the MLS Golden Boot race with his 14th goal of the season
  • Defender Lalas Abubakar scores his first goal of the season
  • Dallas makes its first Sunday Night Soccer appearance of 2026
  • Dallas earns its fifth road win of 2026

AUSTIN, Texas (Aug. 16, 2026) – FC Dallas (8-5-6, 30 points) earned its first Sunday Night Soccer, presented by Continental Tire, win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Texas rivals Austin FC (4-10-5, 17 points). Defender Lalas Abubakar scored his first goal of the season before Petar Musa sealed the win for Dallas.

MUSA LEAGUE SOCCER

FC Dallas forward Petar Musa netted his league-leading 14th goal of the season. The Croatian forward scored his fourth career goal against Austin FC. Musa leads Dallas in goals, shots on target and xG. Tonight's goal marked his fourth left-footed goal in MLS. Joaquín Valiente recorded his team-leading sixth assist of the season on Musa's goal. With tonight's goal, Musa moved to 48 career goals for FC Dallas, five goals behind Jesús Ferreira for second place on the club's all-time scoring list.

LALAS RETURNS TO THE STARTING ELEVEN

Defender Lalas Abubakar returned to the starting eleven for just the second time this season after last featuring against the Seattle Sounders in April. The veteran center back scored his first goal of the season and second career goal for FC Dallas on a corner kick delivered by Santiago Moreno, who recorded his second assist of the season. Abubakar scored his first FC Dallas goal against the Portland Timbers on Aug. 8, 2025. His header marked Dallas' seventh set-piece goal of the season and second goal from a corner kick.

CAPITAL DOMINANCE

With tonight's win, FC Dallas improves to a 9-2-3 record against Austin FC. Dallas won at Q2 Stadium for the first time since May 13, 2023, improving to a 3-2-2 record at the venue. The Hoops handed Austin FC its first defeat on Sunday Night Soccer.

FC DALLAS ON LOCAL TV

Relive Dallas' road match against Austin FC on Tuesday, Aug. 18, from 7-9 p.m. CT on KDFI More 27.

UP NEXT

FC Dallas heads to Real Salt Lake on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at America First Field before heading to BC Place to take on Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday, Aug. 22. Both games kick off at 8:30 p.m. CT and will stream on Apple TV. Fans can also listen on the official FC Dallas app or tune in to the radio broadcast through FC Dallas' interactive live stream on YouTube.

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