FC Dallas hosted the worst team in MLS on Saturday night. "Beat who you're supposed to beat," goes the saying, and FC Dallas did just that with a comprehensive 3-1 win.

After the night's round of games, FCD sits 4th in the West, but that will change after the Sunday slate of games.

Let's break it down.

Lineups and Tactics

FC Dallas continues in the 4-3-3 and for the second straight game uses the traditional 6-8-10 version. Having won 5-1 last week Coach Luchi Gonzalez makes no change, which is as it should be.

The FC Dallas starting XI vs FC Cincinnati. (8-31-19) (FCD / FC Dallas)

Paxton Pomykal subbed in for Jesus Ferreira in the 67th minute. Probably a dual purpose here of keeping Pomykal sharp and protecting Ferreira from getting a yellow card and having to sit against the Chicago Fire.

Ricardo Pepi came in for Zdenek Ondrasek in the 87th minute and Bressan was brought on for Reggie Cannon in more right at the buzzer that was probably intended to waste time.

FC Cincinnati rolled out a 4-2-3-1 type shape with a double pivot.

The FC Cincinnati starting XI at FC Dallas. (8-31-19) (FCC / FC Cincinnati)

All three Cincy subs had a Dallas connection. Grapevine native Greg Garza, who is coming back from a long injury layoff, was subbed at the 60th minute for Andrew Gutman in a preplanned minute restriction move. Fatai Alashe came on for former FC Dallas homegrown Victor Ulloa in the 64th and Rashawn Dally replaced former FC Dallas winger Roland Lamah in the 77th minute.

It felt good to be back in Dallas after being here for so long and spending many good times here. I have great memories and I know most of the guys on the other side. It was good to match up against them. We are disappointed about the result, but happy to come back home. - Victor Ulloa

Goals

1-0 FC Dallas goal. 12th minute. Dallas gets it going early with a Ryan Hollingshead goal. Good work by Hollingshead to get forward on a pass by Barrios... a couple touches later and Zdenek Ondrasek makes a nice one-touch pass to Hollingshead to finish.

2-0 FC Dallas goal. 49th minute. Just 4 minutes into the 2nd half, Michael Barrios extends the lead. Hollingshead wins the ball in midfield and Bryan Acosta makes a classy pass to lead Barrios into the box.

3-0 FC Dallas goal. 51st minute. A wonderful cross from Michael Barrios finds Zdenek Ondrasek making the back-post run. Cobra should have buried the first header but hits it right at the keeper. He is ready to bury the rebound though when it comes off the goalie. A typical don't stop effort goal by Ondrasek.

3-1 FC Cincinnati goal. 64th minute. Emmanuel Ledesma puts away the PK.

Watch @LedeManu18 put his fifth goal of the season in the back of the net. #FCCincy trail 3-1 with under 30 minutes remaining.#FCDvCIN pic.twitter.com/Ub7d6KLOpT — FC Cincinnati (@fccincinnati) September 1, 2019

Was it a PK? Sure, Reggie Cannon clips the heels of Roland Lamah who goes down in a heap. Maybe you can claim incidental contact... but there is contact.

Red Card

FCC's Kekuta Manneh is caught by VAR in an off-ball incident putting his hands to Bryan Acosta's face.

Well done by the #MLS #VAR system. On a day where there’s been a lot of hate for the #PremierLeague VAR the MLS has gotten this right without question as Guido Gonzales Jr hands out the #RedCard to Kekuta Manneh.#Soccer #PRO #Futbol #DALvCIN #DALFC #CINvDAL pic.twitter.com/mZOjf2pind — The Twiter Ref (@RefTwiter) September 1, 2019

El Bueno

My Man of the Match was Michael Barrios. Cincy had no answer for him, no one that could mark him. Barrios was having a field day down the right side. 85% passing - that's a high number for a forward - 3 shots, 2 on goal. 5 key passes!! A remarkably high 61 touches, 9 crosses, and 7 corners. His chart is fantastic and his average position is even ahead of Ondrasek's.

Miacheal Barrios passing and shooting chart vs FCC (left) and the FC Dallas average position chart (right). (Whoscored.com / MLS)

At half time I called on FCD to be ruthless and put the game away, Barrios answered that call.

this is where we need to see FCD develop a ruthlessness. Put this game away. — 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) September 1, 2019

I could just as easily have chosen Bryan Acosta for MotM as he was fantastic as well. He was the "official" choice on the night. A staggering 110 touches, 90% passing, 12 of 14 on long balls, 2 tackles, 3 intercepts, and 1 clear. He's even cleaned up the crazy long-range shooting. The only shot he took was a legit choice, even if he did fire it over the Hall of Fame. The only downsides were that he was disposed 4 times and committed 5 fouls. In hindsight, I think he was looking for the persistent fouls yellow card to get his suspension over with against Chicago since he'll be a bit tired from international travel (maybe I'm a cynic).

FCD has gotten so much better at offensive efficiency of late. 71% of shots against FCC came from inside the penalty box. That's a fantastic percentage. At the point FCD was up 3-nothing, 6 of their 9 shots were on goal. That's so good. It did get worse later though as only 2 of their last 8 were not on goal. I think they were just getting carried away and trying anything by the end being up a man.

FC Dallas has now scored 3 or more goals in four of the last 5 games. Coach Gonzalez deserves a lot of credit for getting things going. Part of it comes from the work the club has done on the offensive third changing back to the single pivot 4-3-3 and getting an extra attacker into the box. Part of it is the positive, battling mentality that was triggered by Ondrasek. Ferreira's move into the midfield has also been key as he's creating, linking, breaking lines, and playing under the 9. Not to mention Cobra playing as real #9, drawing the attention of the center backs and creating a space for the mids to play under him. The scoreline would have been a lot worse had FCC keeper Przemyslaw Tyton not had a pretty good game with 5 saves. Now can they carry this offense on the road in two weeks to Chicago?

Speaking of Zdenek Ondrasek, here's his all touch video by Austin Banks (@MisterKranks). You can judge for yourself the quality of the aspects of his game. I've beaten them to death. The next step I would like to see him take is to get his shots into the corners and not right at the keep all the time. He could have had a hat-trick in this game. I did quite like the increased physical nature he brought to this one.

It has been beautiful, I played the most minutes since I came here so I'm happy. I know that I would be even better if I played more in the past months, but I didn't so that's the past. I have to prepare myself now. I have to play. I am happy the guys pass me the (and) ball I score. Today I'm a little bit disappointed because it's too many challenges for one goal. - Cobra

Ryan Hollingshead was amazing for the 2nd straight game. I wouldn't complain if he had been the MotM either. He's crushing it at both ends of the field. A solid 84% passing with 2 key passes. 4 aerials won to lead FCD, that's surprising. 2 dribbles and 2 fouls drawn - a great goal of course - 2 tackles, 3 intercepts, 2 clearances, and ZERO fouls committed.

We encourage [Hollingshead] to be unpredictable and dynamic in the attack, coming inside and going outside, and today we had good combination on the inside and he had that beautiful right foot curling shot that beat the keeper. - Luchi Gonzalez

We don't talk about them enough but the collective defense is fantastic on this team. 38 goals allowed on the season, that's 6th best in MLS giving FCD the 5th best goal differential. Reggie Cannon, Matt Hedges, Reto Ziegler, Ryan Hollingshead, and Jesse Gonzalez all deserve significant praise.

I am proud to welcome to the league @FCDallas’ newest Homegrown (and tonight’s co-captain!), 10-year-old Brynn Moore! #KickChildhoodCancer pic.twitter.com/QOyfKSSVB2 — Don Garber (@thesoccerdon) September 1, 2019

El Camino del Medio

I'm not going to go so far as to say Dom Badji had a bad game, but it wasn't good either. Particularly compared to last week's stand-out performance. His 91% passing sounds really nice but he spent way too much time in midfield. I suppose with the big lead he's sitting deep but he had 0 shots on the night. He did have three dribbles but he was also dispossessed twice and committed two fouls. He's supposed to cheat in toward Ondrasek and play high, not into MF. His average position should be higher, it's back behind Jesus Ferreira! (The #14 below.)

The FC Dallas average position chart vs FC Cincinnati. Dom Badji is the #14 (8-31-19) (Whoscored.com)

I'm ok with Paxton Pomykal not starting again. When you win 5-1 the week before those players all deserve to keep their spots. Plus Pomykal is dealing with the hamstring soreness and he's got his first-ever US camp coming up. I want him to be as healthy as possible for that camp.

Muy Feo

FC Cincy is a pretty poor team. This was the perfect game to get some minutes for the Dallas youngsters. Not starting? Sure, fine. The XI from last week deserved to go again. But bring in two or three at half or shortly afterward. Yes, Ricardo Pepi got in. Awesome. But Bryan Reynolds and Edwin Cerrillo, in particular, should have been used too. They both need playing time. Up 3-0 in the 60th minute would have been perfect time to pull Acosta for Cerrillo and Cannon for Reynolds. Two weeks from now in Chicago, Cerrillo, or maybe Brandon Servania, has to start at the 6.

FC Dallas midfielder Brandon Servania (18) shrugs after missing a shot during the first half of an MLS game between FC Dallas and FC Cincinnati on Saturday, August 31, 2019 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. (Shaban Athuman/Staff Photographer) (Shaban Athuman / Staff Photographer)

Next Game

Thankfully with all the call ups, FC Dallas has a week off during this international window when everyone else is playing. FCD will catch up in the game in hand situation after this.

FC Dallas next faces an MLS side on September 14th when they travel to face the Chicago Fire and contest for the Brimstone Cup. Kickoff at 2:30 pm CT with the broadcast on Univision.

We have to be steady, we can't get too high or too low, we have to keep our eye on the prize, and now we have two weeks to prepare to go to Chicago and do something special there with another team fighting for the playoffs. - Luchi Gonzalez