Saturday night in Utah, FC Dallas managed to ride a late first-half goal from Lucho Acosta and an early red card for Real Salt Lake to the club's second victory away from home this season.
Sure, most of the good feelings are going to come as a result of the red card, but as you dive deeper into this game, it may be a tactical shift by FC Dallas manager Eric Quill that really did the job.
Quill started the match with a slightly new look. And no, I'm not talking about the large red hat. The first-year manager switched formations a bit, taking his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation and moving it into a 4-3-1-2 (or a 4-3-3 diamond formation). The switch opened up the attack more and provided the cover defensively that the club needed, with Homegrown keeper Michael Collodi earning his first start in place of Maarten Paes, who was out on international duty.
Let's dive into some key stats on the formation shift, as well as a look at some overall season stats that we're keeping tabs on.
