On Saturday night, the Seattle Sounders came to Dallas, scored three goals, and lost 2 - 1. That's got to be something that most people will have never seen before, I certainly don't recall it happening.

Yes, Seattle scored two own goals in a single half of a game. That's remarkable. FC Dallas played pretty well to cause the own goals, but still... It was a surreal result.

The win jumps FC Dallas back up to 5th in the West on 21 points and broke the 6-game winless streak FCD was on.

We don't believe in streaks. It's game to game. Training to training. Day to day. Bringing our best, learning from yesterday and being the best we can today. - FCD Coach Luchi Gonzalez.

Let's break it down.

Lineups and Tactics

FC Dallas remains in the 4-2-3-1. It's pretty much the same as the 4-3-3 with the slightly rotated midfield. It's not quite a pure 4-2-3-1 as Bryan Acosta is still playing as an hybrid-8 more than a pure 6. So call it whatever nomenclature you want.

Barely 18-year-old Thomas Roberts got the call in place of Pablo Aranguiz who is off with the Chile U23 team. Carlos Gruezo returned from injury just in time to play this one game before leaving for Copa America. Reto Ziegler wasn't back yet from his groin struggles so Bressan keeps his place. Reggie Cannon was given a night off with Ryan Hollingshead taking his place.

FC Dallas starting XI vs Seattle Sounders. (6-1-19) (FCD / FC Dallas)

In the 64th minute, as Roberts was beginning to tire a bit, Coach Gonzalez brought on Jacori Hayes in a move to try and kill the game. Bryan Reynolds replaced Jesus Ferreira, who was limping a bit, in the 72nd minute. Reynolds played right wing and Dom Badji moved to the 9. Then in the 89th minute, Reggie Cannon came on for Michael Barrios at left wing.

With Nicolás Lodeiro suspended, Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer had to do a little shuffling but retained the same tactical 4-2-3-1 shape.

Schmetzer went to the bench early, bringing on Will Bruin for Gustav Svensson at halftime, shifting Cristian Roldan deeper, and Handwalla Bwana for Harry Shipp in the 56th minute to try and shake his team up with some fresh attackers. Joevin Jones came on for Alex Roldan in the 77th minute as well.

Goals

1-0 Seattle Sounders own goal. 33rd minute. Michael Barrios beats two defenders on the left wing and crosses to a wide open Ryan Hollingshead. Hollingshead's header back across the box - likely intended for Dom Badji - is headed by Seattle defender Xavier Arreaga into the goal.

2-0 Seattle Sounders own goal. 38th minute. FC Dallas runs a free kick set play - clearly designed on the training ground - that works to spring Michael Barrios free into the box. Barrios' low, driven, near post cross is directed into the net by Seattle defender Brad Smith.

2-1 Seattle Sounders goal. 65th minute. Literally seconds after FCD subs off Thomas Roberts, Seattle perhaps catches the Toros napping with a play right through the heart of midfield. Multiple players aren't closed down and the wide open Raúl Ruidíaz gets a shot off. Matt Hedges gets a piece of it, but not a complete block, and the looping redirected shot flies over Jesse Gonzalez.

El Bueno

Michael Barrios was my Man of the Match, as I'm sure he was for most people. He's in fantastic form and is the most consistent and dangerous FCD attacker right now. He created both the Seattle own goals with his pace on the left wing. Barrios swapped wings in about the 22nd minute or so, check out his chart from that point on. He was getting much deeper on the left with way more penetrating passes. 2 shots, 2 own-goals caused, 2 key passes, 4 dribbles... and 4 tackles!

Michael Barrios passing and dribbling charts before and after his 22nd minute wing swap against Seattle. (6-1-19) (MLS / MLS)

Asking a kid who just turned 18 to drive the bus is a big ask, but Thomas Roberts rose to the occasion. Was he the man of the match? No, but he was looking pretty darn good. He showed composure on the ball and the ability to create. Roberts has improved his timing too, knowing when to try things. He also showed more ability to control the game. I also really liked his high press and defensive intensity. Most importantly, as you can see from his chart, he made some passes into the final third. That's something that has been missing with Paxton Pomykal out. I would like to see Roberts make the same surging dribbles into the defense as Pomykal makes.

Good. Positive. Good. I'd say best performance so far. We don't need magic from him. [Roberts] is a player that is naturally talented. He's learning that defensive role in the midfield and that responsibility. I thought he did a very good job, I think. His mentality is to get the assist, create shots, score, draw the foul. He's hungry to help this team as much as he can. - Coach Gonzalez

Carlos Gruezo and Bryan Acosta were fantastic as a pair in the double pivot. This was more of a combo set of 6/8 type players than two pure 6s. Acosta got forward more, but Gruezo took his turns too. Both of them had really strong performances... just in time for summer call ups. This team has really missed Gruezo's steal and game control.

Ryan Hollingshead played pretty well at right back. That's actually been a problem for him before, previous times he's filled in there he was oddly a bit of a mess. He is right-footed after all. I think Reggie Cannon will get his spot back, but Hollingshead gives coach Gonzalez options if Cannon is injured or called up. 1 tackle, 4 intercepts, 4 clearances. Only 78% passing, that's low for Hollingshead, but he did draw 3 fouls.

John Nelson was pretty dang superb at left back. He's started there 4 of the last 5 games and just might have taken this job. It'll be interesting to see how long Nelson keeps it. 77 touches, 83% passing, 2 key passes, 4 for 7 on long balls.

Credit to coach Gonzalez for his subbing and late game strategy. I often say continuing to attack to keep the opposition sitting back is important. By using Badji, Reynolds, and Cannon up top, FCD was able to high press late into the game, play over the top attacks, and almost got a third goal. It was a great strategy that worked well.

Part of that success of the afore-mentioned strategy was how well Dominic Badji played as the 9. From the 64th minute on, Badji played as a high 9. He made several successful over the top attacks, multiple quality runs into the box for his teammates to feed him balls, and defensively made a nuisance of himself pressing. It was just about Badji's best game we've seen as a 9. When he got traded here I wrote a piece about how Badji wasn't a back to goal 9 but could be an over the top 9 in the style of Jeff Cunningham. It was nice to see it.

I'm naturally a nine and so when I got the opportunity to go up there I did what I naturally was able to do and caused havoc. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a goal, but that's my natural position. - Dominic Badji

Bryan Reynolds was again interesting off the bench as a late game wing. He showed his pace, made a couple nice passes/crosses, and was generally a positive influence on the game. His 3 crosses were second most for FCD (behind Barrios).

I think it's three in a row, he's played in. Really proud. Really proud of him. He needs to not relax. He's similar to Ryan [Hollingshead] in that he can be a back or a winger. He's got the tools physically, athletically, technically. - Coach Gonzalez

El Camino del Medio

Let's talk about the other wing in the FCD offense, normally the left one, perhaps more accurately, the non-Barrios one. No one has grabbed this spot and made it their own. Dominic Badji had been solid, but not great, in this spot for a couple of game but against Seattle was largely missing in action. Santiago Mosquera was great in the spring but not great in the season with injuries and what not. Pablo Aranguiz as a false wing didn't have much impact. Since Barrios usually starts on the right but clearly is just as impactful on the left, why not try starting him there and giving Bryan Reynolds a shot on the right wing? Can't be much worse, can it? The kid's looked pretty good the last few games.

At 459 passes, FCD down about 150 passes from their usual 600 range. Oddly for a home game, FCD actually had less possession that Seattle, 48% to 52%. So this wasn't the Luchi-Ball we are used to. Up two goals, FCD most certainly used a more direct, over the top style that fit the personnel they had available. And it worked. So not a bad trend by itself, but worth noting.

Muy Feo

FCD continues to be plagued by poor shooting the last few games. Only 1 shot on target in this game out of 14 shots. That's a really poor ratio. Dallas was really efficient at shooting earlier in the year and it's only been a couple of game... but let's keep an eye on this and see how it goes moving forward.

60% of FCD's shots came from outside the box, that's higher than we'd like to see. Take your opportunities when they come, sure, but those are low percentage shots and certainly contributed to the low shots on goal number. This season, Bryan Acosta and Ryan Hollingshead have the 2nd and 3rd most shots on the team. Acosta and Carlos Gruezo had the most shots for FCD in this game. That's not awesome.

Next Game

FC Dallas travels to San Jose to face the Earthquakes next Saturday a bit short-handed. Carlos Gruezo and Bryan Acosta will have left for the Gold Cup and Copa America. Plus Paxton Pomykal, Brandon Acosta, and Edwin Cerrillo might not have returned from the U20 World Cup... if they win on Tuesday against France.

FCD/SJ kicks off at 2:30 pm CT from Avaya Stadium on Univision.