There really isn’t going to be much sugarcoating from this one. FC Dallas simply did not create enough chances or momentum forward, and the underlaying numbers that you’ll see below back that up quickly.
San Diego dictated the match from start to finish, holding nearly 75% of the possession, outshooting Dallas 19-6, and finishing with a 1.56-0.42 xG edge. Even though the final score stayed at 1-0, it never felt like Dallas consistently threatened to find an equalizer.
Let’s dive into the numbers from this one.
xG Battle/Attacking numbers
We knew going into this one that Dallas was largely going to sit back and let San Diego come at them with the ball. Dallas wanted to absorb and counter, just like we’ve seen them do time and time again on the road this season.
Dallas finished the first half with two attempts, none on target. One that was blocked and one that went wide. Honestly, both were decent looks by Patrickson Delgado and Shaq Moore.
But if you are looking into the shot map above, you’ll quickly see that the second half attempts weren’t all that better than the first half ones. Everything was low quality and nothing that really put San Diego’s defense under pressure.
Part of that was the how disconnected Petar Musa was to the attack. We discussed that a good bit yesterday, but when your main attacking player is having to come 20 or 30 yards into his own half to get the ball, that is a problem.
The passes into the final third really speak to how disconnected Musa and the attack were from the midfield. Every time Dallas got a moment of possession, they squandered it.
To me, the big number ends up being the touches inside the penalty area. Dallas ended the game with 10 to San Diego’s 31. The majority of those touches came in the final stages of the game, too. Not ideal when you are chasing a game.
Defensive recap
Let’s face it, outside of one key moment when San Diego scored, the Dallas defense held things in check. And for having a goalkeeper swap early in the first half to go with it, that should feel like a positive thing.
But the defensive actions paint a similar picture to how this one played out. Dallas spent the bulk of their time in their own defensive zone, with an average spot of their defensive actions coming fully in their defensive third.
The Dallas defense kept this game within reach despite giving up all of that possession to the hosts. San Diego pinned Dallas back for much of the evening, forcing them to absorb any and all pressure.
In the end, the defensive performance was probably good enough to earn at least a point. Holding a team to one goal despite giving up the ball for three-fourths of the game is usually a recipe for a point steal in this league. Dallas defended admirably for long stretches, but asking the back line, and two different goal keepers to be nearly perfect for 90 minutes on the road is difficult.
Here are the final defensive numbers on the night (FCD on the left, San Diego on the right):
- Interceptions: 14-6
- Challenges: 3 - 1
- Clearances: 24 - 6
- Recoveries: 30 - 43
- Blocked Passes: 9 - 8
- Tackles: 12 - 17
Drew Epperley
Individual Stat Leaders
Here were some of the individual leaders on the night for FC Dallas:
Most shots on target - Musa (1)
Most chances created - Four players (1)
Most touches inside the penalty area - Musa, Farrington (2)
Most touches overall - Kaick (50)
Most duels won - Urhoghide (6)
Highest xG - Moreno (0.12)
