Let’s dive into one more look at the win against Austin, break down some stats from the match and where things stand for the season over all.
Defense continues to shine
I know I've spent a lot of time recently on the defensive side of things for FC Dallas. The changes that FC Dallas manager Eric Quill has made over the last month and a half to his formation has really started to click. The team collectively is limiting opposing sides from getting good looks on goal and we're starting to see what it can do for the team's counter attack play.
Austin ended Saturday's game without a good look on goal. Keeper Jacob Jackson had three saves, but all of them were pretty much saves that he didn't have to put in a massive effort to make. That was thanks to the defensive group in front of him putting in the work to limit was Austin was able to get in their attacking third.
It wasn't just the limiting of the Austin attack inside the penalty area that looked better from previous weeks, it was how well the team defended further up the field. Part of that was Chris Cappis being pretty damn good in this match, the other was seeing Patrickson Delgado, Logan Farrington and Petar Musa all contributing in the defensive effort. Those three combined for seven defensive actions.
I always believe defense matters in this league and if you can get your entire team defending further up the field, good things tend to happen for you.
Let’s breakdown the final numbers for the defense from this one.