FC Dallas faced the best team in MLS, Los Angeles Football Club, for the second time in four days on Sunday. While the first performance wasn't wonderful out in LA, FCD did build on their 2nd half momentum from the first game and performed better in the home game rematch earning a 1-1 draw.

I thought the second half over there we played a positive way. We created more. We didn't get some end product on the goal in terms of shots. That's something we need to keep growing in our conviction around the box and our killer instinct around the box. - FCD Coach Luchi Gonzalez

Let's break it down.

Lineups and Tactics

After using a very defensive 3-5-2 in LA, Dallas reverted to the familiar 4-3-3 at home. As we predicted, Pablo Aranguiz was deployed as a 10 with Jacori Hayes and Bryan Acosta behind him making it a bit more 4-2-3-1 like. Bressan maintained a starting center back spot with Reto Ziegler shifting to the left back position he played earlier in his career. Dom Badji filled in for the injured Michael Barrios (concussion) and Ryan Hollingshead was deployed at left wing.

FC Dallas starting XI vs LAFC. (5-19-19) (FC Dallas / FCD)

After the Matt Hedges red card, Aranguiz was pulled for John Nelson in the 56th minute shifting Ziegler to center back creating a new back four. 9 minutes later Zdenek Ondrasek came on as a fresh pair of legs for Badji; hopefully, Badji didn't re-aggravate his hip problem. That left Dallas in a 4-4-1 type shape as they tried to kill the game off.

FCD's late game 4-4-1 against LAFC after the Matt Hedges red card. (5-19-19) (Buzz Carrick / 3rd Degree)

Then lastly, Bryan Reynolds made his MLS debut for Jesus Ferreira after the latter got an apparent hamstring injury on a tackle.

LAFC played their familiar 4-3-3, at least on paper, but shifted Carlos Vella to center forward as a false 9 and Latif Blessing on the right wing with Christian Ramirez on the bench.

LAFC starting XI at FC Dallas. (5-19-19) (LAFC)

Due to an apparent hamstring injury, Steven Beitashour was pulled for Josh Perez in the 31st minute. Adama Diomande came on for Lee Nguyen in the 56th minute after Nguyen arguably should have been sent off. Then finally coach Bob Bradley brought on another striker for a midfielder in the 76th minute trying to take all three points, Christian Ramirez for Andre Horta.

Goals

1-0 FC Dallas goal. 29th minute. Dom Badji with an impressive counter-attack beats two defenders in a race and crosses to a wide open Ryan Hollingshead just inside the box. Good finish by Hollingshead and a great effort to keep up with Badji's run. That's not easy.

1-1 LAFC Goal. 80th minute. A penalty kick converted by Carlos Vela.

Here's the PK call on Bressan that earns this goal. I can't really argue this one. Arm in an unnatural position and he kinda leaves it out there to hit the ball. This one is the correct call.

El Bueno

Jacori Hayes was FC Dallas Man of the Match for me. This performance reminded me of how he played at the start of last season when he was arguably FCD's MVP over the first 1/3 of the schedule. Calm in possession, linking forward and not just back or side passes, helped relived pressure all through the 2nd half. Good defense as well. 77% passing, 46 touches, drew 5 fouls (mostly in the defensive end), 8 recoveries, 3 tackles, 2 intercepts, 1 clear, and 1 foul committed. Great game.

Jesse Gonzalez was also amazing. What a terrific performance. Made a PK save and a couple of outstanding additional stops. He almost saved the 2nd PK too, if he had he would have been man of the match. 5 saves overall. Outstanding. Here's the great PK save and another cracker on Vela.

[Jesse Gonzalez] made a good save. We must give him some credit as well. He's a good goalkeeper and he guessed correctly. In the second penalty kick, I waited until the last second to see what he would do, but he wasn't able to save that one. We also went one-on-one there. - Carlos Vela

MLS debut for Bryan Reynolds. He was mainly asked to pressure defend and counter and he did both of those things. It seems like he's been a pro for so long, but remember he was signed to protect the club's investment in him at 15. These days he would be a North Texas player like Ricardo Pepi and David Rodriguez; in fact, that new team has really helped Reynolds already. Reynolds is still only 17 and he's got such raw ability, the ceiling is quite high. With Reggie Cannon's potential Gold Cup call up I'd like to see Reynolds get a start at right back sometime soon.

They scored, it was unfortunate, and then I got to come in. When I first started walking out, I couldn't feel my legs, it was just an unreal moment. I've been working for that moment. It's unfortunate that we tied, but I'm proud of the boys that we saved it with a man down against a good team. - Bryan Reynolds

Dom Badji did a really nice job in his role as a winger. He provided a vertical element filling in for the missing Michael Barrios and Badji looked even better after he swapped to the left wing. Verticality, solid passing, great assist, strong game. 30 touches, 94% passing (far and away the Dallas high), 2 shots, 2 aerials won, and 1 assist.

40 minutes is a heck of a long time to try and kill a game down a man with a 1-0 lead. Coach Gonzalez shifted his boys into the 4-4-1 by bringing on Nelson. Then Cobra came on to challenge up top and make it hard for LA to set up. FCD had to dig really deep to hold the lead and even though they gave up a PK they did keep battling and kept the tie. Ferreira, Cobra, and Reynolds had chances to get a second and the win, just barely missing (or being fouled). This second half kill took guts.

It was interesting to watch Luchi Gonzalez's FCD employ an Oscar Pareja style deep block defend and counter strategy from the start. It almost got FCD the win. It seems clear Gonzalez will go with this kind of set up when the opposition is top of the league in possession (and skill?). Nice to have multiple styles to use if needed.

The smoke bombs and/or flares in the beer garden were awesome. Props to DBG and El Matador for fighting to get them for years. Also, props to whoever at FCD allowed them to happen. Supporter culture is something unique to soccer and the atmosphere at the game is a big selling point to fans. Love seeing this kind of stuff, keep it going!

El Camino del Medio

I'm of mixed thoughts on Bressan. I thought he played a terrific game, except for the fact he gave up two PKs and four fouls total. Not to mention his brutal tackle on Vela in game one. I think Bressan could really help this team if he could get some of the impulses that are hurting him under control. Maybe curtail a few of his aggressive instincts? 78% passing, 6/11 long balls, 2 tackles, 2 intercepts, 4 clearances.

I was ok in some ways with Zdenek Ondrasek being subbed on. He is a tenacious worker and defender for a striker (2 tackles, 3 clearances). That part was needed. But he has no pace to play over the top and keep LA on their heels. So it was a mixed bag. He also missed the open header. This may be his useful role going forward, defending a lead and killing games.

I wasn't sure about it when Pablo Aranguiz was subbed. I thought FCD would need his possession skills breaking out of the back to relieve some pressure when they won the ball. Cobra did fill some of that role though so it worked better after the second sub. And the formation change to a 4-4-1 was necessary. Ryan Hollingshead is a better defender too so I understand the choice on that level. In hindsight, Aranguiz wasn't dealing well with the pressure and was at only 68% passing.

Muy Feo

I still don't like Bryan Acosta as a deep 6. He was dispossessed 5 times. That's a killer. Speaking of dispossession, Jesus Ferreira was also dispossessed 5 times. But it's way worse in a holding mid than a striker. Reggie Cannon dispossessed 4 times. Overall FCD didn't deal well with the LAFC pressure as a collective only passing at 74%. That's really poor for this side. Of course they were down a man for 40 minutes... but still.

I very rarely talk about the referee, I usually say poor refereeing goes both ways and evens out. You have to learn to deal with it like anything else.

But that's the problem with this one: Lack of consistency. I thought Chris Penso was unbalanced in his calls from the opening whistle. It seemed like someone told him "watch out for the dirty hacks in Dallas trying to ruin the play of the best team in MLS." Penso came in supper ticky-tacky, whistling every time an FCD player breathed on an LAFC player for the first 20 minutes. Constantly talking to everyone form the jump. Almost with an "I'll fix this" mentality.

Sure, come in with knowledge of the previous game, keep an eye on Vela/Bressan for example. That's important. But you have to come in with a blank slate in terms of how you call it. Each game is new, it has to be level. This one wasn't. Penso seemed to be trying to clamp down and make an example from the opening whistle and it destroyed the flow of the game.

It was choppy at the beginning, all sorts of fouls, and the referee talking to everybody after every play. We tried hard to get something that feels like football going but on a night like tonight, it's just impossible. - LAFC coach Bob Bradley

Also, the first PK call on Bressan is garbage. That's a clean tackle, Bressan gets the ball and Vela trips over his leg.

Unfortunately, it was Bressan's tackle in game one on Vela that really set all this up. That one should have been a red card, so Bressan arguably shouldn't have been in the second game.

The lack of a red card on Tyler Miller after Jesus Ferreira beat him is also a joke as it was a clear denial of a goal scoring opportunity. The ref had already run Matt Hedges, correctly, for the exact same thing. No consistency at all.

The guys on Instant Replay break both these missed calls in game two down quite clearly. And Bressan's tackle from game one.

Next Game

FC Dallas travels to Vancouver to take on the Whitecaps without their Co-Captain Matt Hedges. Kickoff next Saturday, May 25th, at 6 pm CT on TXA 21.