FC Dallas didn't dominate in their 3-2 win over Toronto FC. It was a season opener after all, so the match had its moments of sloppiness and mistakes (from both sides).
Just as we saw from late last season, FC Dallas picked their moments. They were out-possessed by Toronto 55%-45%. Despite that, Dallas did outshoot Toronto on the night, but just barely.
As we get into a new season, our weekly stat digest is going to look a tad different. I'll still break down the numbers from each match with a bit of context, while hoping to keep it a bit different from yesterday's "What we learned" post. Let’s dig into the numbers from this one.
xG Battle/Attacking numbers
In a way, this was a typical season opener for both sides in the attacking portion of the match. The difference for Dallas was pretty clear. Once they got into the penalty area, the chances improved, and goals came as a result.
Dallas only outshot Toronto by a single shot on both the overall shot totals and on target. The difference was the quality and location. Dallas battled to get chances in good areas, whereas Toronto got theirs from giveaways or poor clearances.