FC Dallas went south to take on our old friend Nico Estevez and the Trees. While it wasn’t a win, a point on the road at a rival is still good, and the performance was solid.
“Proud of the effort behind the ball, the honesty, disappointed with the goal that we gave up. But I can’t fault the fight in the guys tonight.”
FC Dallas Head Coach Eric Quill
FCD stays at 11th in the West on 29 points with 8 games to play. They probably need 42, so 13 more in those 8 games or 1.63 PPG.
Lineups and Tactics
Coach Eric Quill stayed with the 3-4-3, and I think he will continue to do so at least as long as they are playing for “now.” If the team is eliminated from the playoffs, perhaps it will change.
Two changes in the XI with Christian Cappis in for Kaick and Sebastian Lletget in for Patrickson Delgado. The FCD socials were wrong again, so I’ve drawn it up.
LLetget being in means that Quill is continuing with one of the “wings” being more vertical and forward like, and one being more 10’ish midfield like.
FC Dallas XI at Austin FC, August 16, 2025.
At halftime, Anderson Julio came on for Petar Musa. Coach Quill said Musa had some tightness in his hammy and lifted as a precaution.
64th minute, Delgado came on for LLetget.
72nd minute, Luicius Deedson replaced Logan Farrington, while Kaick came on for Cappis.
In a rare Qill late sun, Nolan Norris came on for the cramping Ramiro in the 94th minute.
Most people say Austin was in a 4-2-3-1, I’ll use MLS here, who show them in 4-4-2, just imagine Diego Rubio is under Myrto Uzuni.
Austin FC XI vs FC Dallas, August 16, 2025. (Courtesy MLS)
64th minute, Besard Sabovis came on for Diego Rubio.
77th minute, Jon Gallagher and Jader Obrian replaced Mikkel Desler and Owen Wolff.
86th minute, it was CJ Fodrey and Zan Klomanic on for Daniel Pereira and Guilherme Biro.
Goals
1-0 FC Dallas, 37th minute. FCD takes the lead on a well-placed shot by Shaq Moore off a flick on from Petar Musa that caught the defense on the wrong foot. Nice pinch by Lalas Abubakar to begin the play.
“I’m just trying to pick my spots, be a little more aggressive when I get the chance and try to pounce. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t. I’m just trying to put myself in the right position to make things happen and I’m just glad we got the tie.”
Shaq Moore
1-1 Austin FC goal. 51st minute. A hopeful cross by Mikkel Desler finds Owen Wolff, who dominated Shaq Moore for the goal. Moore givith and Moore takith away.
Lo Bueno
My FC Dallas Man of the Match was Osaze Urhoghide. I thought he was immense in the back. It’s so much better with him in the middle of the back to clean things up and lead.
I liked the contribution Christian Cappis made in central midfield. He brought some confidence with the ball at his feet, the ability to play possession and break lines, and helped the team relieve pressure out of the back and get forward through midfield rather than bypassing it. Yes, there are some flaws, or he wouldn’t be in MLS, notably in the top speed sprint. 82% passing, 1 progressive pass, 1 progressive carry, 2 passes into the final third, and 4 recoveries..
Interesting that Cappis’ ability on the left side allowed Quill to move Ramiro to the right side. Ramiro continues to be a good captain and leader with Maarten Paes out. I can respect Ramiro’s game understanding and top defensive positioning. Yes, he’s not an elite possession guy and passer, nor at crashing the box. But he does a lot of simple stuff really well.
FCD defense was mostly good enough, holding Austin to just 11 shots with 3 on target despite giving up 63% possession. That’s the FCD way right now.
“This is a tough place to come and play. And we fought, we fought, and it’s a hard point. Proud of the guys’ effort, and that’s what I care most about, is the mentality and the desire for our fans, to play with our heart and play for each other. And so, I thought that was there tonight.”
Coach Eric Quill
The Bernie Kamungo experiment at right back continues to improve. He looks a lot more confident, and a lot of that is having a coach who believes in him. I would like to see him say wide and do less of the “false wingback” coming underneath. 45 touches is much more engaged than usual for him. 2/4 on take-ons. 2 progressive passes and 1 progressive dribble. That’s better.
What a shame Petar Musa had to go out at halftime, he had an impactful 45 with 2 shot-creating actions and a goal-creating actions on just NINE touches. Hopefully, the hamstring is ok.
“Musa felt a tight hamstring, so we just decided to be safe and not try to gamble with 15 more minutes. So, I think we got him out in time, and I don’t think it’s anything that’s going to be of major concern. We’ll look at it, but we just decided to err on the side of caution.”
Coach Eric Quill
Michael Collodi was quality again. 3 saves and strong with the feet. He actually had two passes into the Austin final third.
Camino del Medio
Sebastian Lletget played well, but I don’t think he got forward enough compared to how Patrickson Delgado has played it (when he’s on his game anyway). Lletget had 27 touches in 63 minutes, with Delgado getting 30 touches in 27 minutes. Both had 70% passing, 2 shot-creating actions and two progressive passes. So Delgado was just a lot more involved. With LLetget having 4 miscues, I don’t think his play will keep Delgado from taking this spot back.
Anderson Julio is apparently still working back into fitness. This team needs him back at full strength. He and Musa in top form would be quite dangerous together, I have to think.
Muy Feo
It’s early days and the 3-4-3 isn’t a good shape for him, but so far I’m not too excited about Louicius Deedson. I’ll give him plenty of time, maybe even into next year (with a shape change?) since he signed a long contract.
While FCD tied the game, the 8 shots with just 2 shots on target aren’t enough. FCD will want to create more chances than that. Both Musa and Julio had 9 touches apiece. They just aren’t getting the ball enough.
“I want us to be better with the ball. If I had to choose an area of the game that we needed to improve, we were getting 10 players low, and we weren’t finding our way out when we won it. We were struggling to get ourselves out and rondo through the first wave of pressure to get the ball to the other side so we could get numbers high in the game. So, a little sloppy.”
Coach Erix Quill
A lot of them were baited, and it comes with the territory of low possession, but FCD out-fouled Austin 14 to 3. They need to clean that up a bit. They are giving away too many free kicks.
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