Photo Credit: Atlanta United FC
FC Dallas 3-Atlanta United FC 2
Wednesday night served up an entertaining match between FC Dallas and Atlanta United in Frisco, and on the day the nation celebrated its birth, it was a Canadian who grabbed the headlines. Dallas have had some mixed results recently, and a match against the top team in the East would provide a test of how good this team really is.
With the departure of Mauro Diaz now official it was interesting to see how Dallas would respond. They set-up in the usual formation they used when Diaz was on the pitch, 4-2-3-1 with Roland Lamah playing between the lines behind Urruti. The formation worked well early on as Dallas made a very bright start. The United full-backs Franco Escobar and former Dallas youth Mikey Ambrose were pushing high. This presented space for Santi Mosquera and Barrios to exploit, and two early chances for Urruti came from work down the right.
Atlanta are the leading team in the league for a reason and if you give them chances they are dangerous. Figueroa went to sleep leaving Gressel open 6 yards out to volley home, but it was well saved by Gonzalez.
In the no.10 Lamah caused problems in the opening half hour roaming in dangerous areas. He had a goal disallowed for a narrow off-side and we won the free-kick that led to the opening goal. Reto Ziegler beautifully curling the ball past Guzan.
Atlanta grew into the game towards the end of the half. Unfortunately Figueroa was at fault again getting skinned by Villalba and crossing for Josef Martinez who couldn’t miss to take into the break all square.
After the break Atlanta started to take control of the game. Dallas struggled to get hold of the ball, while Atlanta patiently waited for cracks to appear. Just before the hour Almiron was given too much time and space 30 yards out, and threaded the ball through to Martinez who gave United the lead with a great finish. Martinez now has 9 goals in his last 7 games.
It didn’t seem like it was going to be FC Dallas’s night. Kellyn Acosta came on for Mosquera and the team shifted to a 4-4-2 but the continued to look flat. They shifted to a 4-4-3, but the trio of Lamah, Barrios and Urruti were faltering. Dallas needed fresh legs, so Oscar Pareja turned to Tesho Akindele and Ryan Hollingshead and what a difference the substitutions made.
The first goal came from a delightful flick from Urruti off which put Tesho through 1-on-1 with Guzan. Akindele pace was enough to keep him ahead of tiring Atlanta defenders and he kept his composure to slot the ball past Guzan.
With momentum shifted Dallas went for jugular. Barrios won a corner, and when the ball came into the box panic ensued in the Atlanta defense, and Akindele slid into bury the ball for the winner, and there was pandemonium inside the stadium.
Due to Real Salt Lake’s defeat of Sporting Kansas City, FC Dallas now sit at the top of the West. This Dallas team has puzzled many around the league. There is a sense that this team is over-achieving and have had benefited from more than their share of good luck. We are approaching the period when FC Dallas totally collapsed last season, and many feel that the balance will correct itself in the second half of the season.
The win was also a statement to the rest of the league. Toyota Stadium has turned into a fortress with the teams now 16 games unbeaten. Pareja spoke after his match about taking each game one at a time. Last season’s problems are in the rear view mirror, and they aren’t looking beyond the next opponent. This attitude will help the team put bad results behind them (like the disastrous defeat against the New York Red Bulls) and help ensure that this team won’t suffer a similar collapse to last year.
Atlanta United FC
