I touched on it yesterday, the Dallas defense is starting to click with one another.
Osaze Urhoghide is a beast. Nolan Norris is starting to really prove he's got what it takes to be a regular MLS starter. Shaq Moore had his best outing in a Dallas uniform so far (more on that in a second) and Maarten Paes earned his first shutout of the season in his 100th MLS start.
Part of why that group did so well was because of the group of midfielders in front on them. Ramiro, Kaick and Show all brought it.
Going defensive has a cost
When you have so many defensive-type players on the field, something comes at a cost.
On Saturday, it was the creative in the attack. We knew it would be the case, too. No Petar Musa (ankle) and Lucho Acosta (rest) in the starting lineup meant that the attacking trio of Anderson Julio, Logan Farrington and Pedrinho had to figure out a way to create chances.
Like I discussed yesterday, there were moments early on where this actually worked. The Dallas midfield passed straight through the Minnesota defense where Julio or Farrington could get on the end of it in the first ten minutes. Shots on goal came from it.
But then it died for about the next 50 minutes or so.
