You don’t need the numbers to know this one felt like a missed opportunity for FC Dallas, but they don’t exactly let them off the hook either.
Behind a slow start and a much improved second half, the stat sheet tells the story of a team that took too long to get going and never fully took control. In the end, it’s another example of how fine the margins are when you’re not at your best in this league for the full 90.
xG Battle/Attacking numbers
In pure xG talk, this game was a coin flip. Dallas barely outdid St. Louis 1.44 to 1.28.
When you layer in the other details of this game. It was Dallas’ to lose. The Burn had more big chances (3 to STL’s 2) and shots inside the penalty box (8-6).
Dallas wasn’t just chucking up low-quality looks, they were getting into dangerous areas more often. That lines up with what we saw in the second half when they finally woke up.
This wasn’t a game where FC Dallas got outplayed for 90. This was a game where:
- They started too slow
- The chances they did get weren’t good enough
- And they couldn’t capitalize enough to kill the game.
Which honestly makes this one more frustrating than getting dominated for 90.
Sure, Dallas won the xG battle in this one. But the lack of finishing in the final third along with a slow start and one costly defensive moment turned a winnable game into two points dropped.