FRISCO - FC Dallas got back in the win column against the LA Galaxy, but it was a tale of two halves and the club wasn't thrilled with their performance over the second 45. Before we look ahead to Saturday's match against the Vancouver Whitecaps, here are a few things we learned from #FCDvLA.
The Magician is Back
We’ve seen glimpses of magic and some strong performances from Mauro Diaz in the year-plus since his return from a devastating Achilles’ injury, but we saw easily his best match since coming back.
The Magician put forth his first three-assist game in MLS and only the second of his FCD career - the other helping capture the club’s first trophy in 19 years in the 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final.
What's interesting is that without Michael Barrios on the field, Diaz gravitated to the left side of the field with his distribution towards Roland Lamah, where he tends to go right towards Barrios when he's there.
Yes, the set pieces still need a little fine-tuning (as we touched on in last week’s Mailbag), but plays like this from Diaz keep fans of the league as a whole on the edge of their seats.
In the four games prior, Diaz had been relegated to a bench role, not as punishment or performance-based, but simply because of how Oscar Pareja is tactically setting the team up based on each game. Several times over the last month, the head coach has praised his playmaker’s acceptance of this role and understanding that his particular skill set might not fit best in a given game plan.
“Mauro has done a tremendous job understanding the initiatives and the purpose of our lineups in the past few games. The respect and the professionalism that he has shown, being one of the best players in the league and one of the best on this team ever,” he said after the match. “Today, he came, did his job, helped his teammates…It was the Mauro that we know in a game that we needed.”
We might not see him starting every week, but if he has performances like Saturday when he does get the nod, or contributions off the bench like we saw vs. Philadelphia three weeks back, he’ll continue to be the life of an FCD attack still finding its way.
Getting the Bounce
While the win was positive, there were some high spikes in blood pressure along the Dallas sideline over the second half. Coming out of the break with a 2-0 lead, mental lapses allowed LA to jump back into the game on two occasions and a flurry of near-misses almost saw three points turn into less.
FCD is used to bounces going the other way in recent memory, but Saturday showcased just a little bit of luck on their side to close out the win.
The club faced their second-highest shot total on the year as the Galaxy peppered 19 shots in the vicinity of goal, but only three of those came on target, two of those finding the net.
There’s something to be said about forcing shots wide and creating your own luck, but it was the Galaxy’s inability to finish that helped the home side keep a two on the opposing scoreboard. They more than had their opportunities.
Over the first 83 minutes before Reto Ziegler’s second yellow and Dallas’ subsequent reduction to 10 men, the Galaxy mustered 14 shots and lots of activity inside the penalty area - more than we’ve seen in quite some time. Over the final 17 minutes playing down a man and trying to hold onto a lead, it was an all-out assault from the Galaxy looking for their second (which they got in the 87th minute) and then the equalizer late.
LEFT: LA shots and key passes before red card; RIGHT: LA shots and key passes after red card
Sometimes, things just go your way - showcased in no larger a moment that Zlatan Ibrahimovic ringing a dangerous free kick off the post in the 89th minute or Ola Kamara’s shot directly at Jimmy Maurer in the 93rd (credit to Anton Nedyalkov though for the pressure leading to the bad shot).
Back Line Changes
Coming off the Ziegler second yellow, we saw for the very first time all season Dallas play without he and Matt Hedges on the field. In the 793 minutes prior, Ziegler and Hedges have anchored the back line. For 680 of that, it’s been the entire back four as a collective unit on the field. That run ended over the final 17 minutes with Maynor Figueroa coming on in the middle, and it will likely be Figueroa there for 90 minutes on Saturday as Vancouver comes to town.
The veteran has played there many times over the last year, but he’s coming off a knee sprain a few weeks ago and behind him lies only Jordan Cano in the center back role. Kris Reaves, who has made gameday rosters this season had sports hernia surgery last week right after Figueroa’s return, leaving Dallas thin at the back.
It’ll be something to watch throughout the week for sure.
