FC Dallas traveled down to Houston on Saturday for the first of three Texas Derby games this season. El Capitan is on the line along with bragging rights for Texas. Dallas rallied late but it wasn't enough as FCD fell 2-1 to the Dynamo.

Let's break it down.

Lineups and Tactics

FC Dallas continues with the 4-3-3. In theory, Bryan Acosta is the more advanced role but it doesn't really work out that way as all three mids play deepish. Pablo Aranguiz gets the call at left wing.

The FC Dallas starting XI at Houston Dynamo. (5-4-19) (FCD / FC Dallas)

Dom Badji came on for Jesus Ferreira in the 64th minute in a straight swap. Coach Luchi Gonzalez brought Santiago Mosquera on at the same time for Carlos Gruezo but this one caused a shift as Pablo Aranguiz dropped into the 10-role (or free-8?) with Mosquera going to left-wing.

Then in the 80th minute, John Nelson came on in a straight swap for Ryan Hollingshead.

Houston Dynamo listed their shape as a 4-2-3-1. You could call it a 4-3-3 with two deep mids if you like.

Tommy McNamara came on in the 73rd minute for Mauro Manotas with a 2-0 lead to bring on a more two-way player. Then Juan Cabezas replaced Boniek Garcia at the 82nd-minute mark. Finally, Romell Quinto replaced Memo Rodriguez and took up a high role to try and force FCD to sit back and defend against his counter.

Goals

1-0 Houston Dynamo goal. 20th minute. A PK. It's not taken that accurately but is driven hard by Mauro Manotas so it sneaks in. Jesse Gonzalez guesses the right way and should probably have had it.

Here's the foul that led to the PK. Yeeeaaah... I'm not so sure about this one. That looks a whole lot like a flop and it comes well after any contact. The first of many flops on the day by Alberth Ellis, some were fouls and some weren't. Which is a shame, as talented as he is I'd like to see him flop less.

On another viewing at another angle, Elis looks to be embellishing as Gruezo was already on the ground when Elis falls over. pic.twitter.com/8mISKY9QiY — Kranks (@MisterKranks) May 7, 2019

2-0 Houston Dynamo goal. 58th minute. Terrific Houston counter-attack when FC Dallas gets caught with most of the defense up high. Good team counter with a nice finish by Mauro Manotas for the brace. I would have liked Carlos Gruezo to get out on the wide player quicker. Close that down and maybe you can stop the attack. Maybe.

2-1 FC Dallas goal. 87th minute. Wonderful long entry pass by Santiago Mosquera, a great ball from Michael Barrios, low and driven, and a well-timed one-touch goal from Dom Badji. This is exactly the kind of goal Badji scored bags of in the preseason.

El Bueno

I thought this was going to be a defensive minded sit deep display by FC Dallas. And early on it was a bit on that side of things but vastly improved over the rest of the game. Maybe it was due to the early Houston led, but overall Luchi ball was back, at least statistically speaking. 64% possession (to 36%), 89% passing (to 84%), and 622 total passes (to 343). 12 crosses (to 10) and 5 corners (to 2). Statistically, this was a really good performance by FCD. Unfortunately, FCD is still working on creating shots with all this possession, only 9 against Houston and 15 for Houston. So yes, this team is still learning how to convert possession to shots.

Yes, it's a process that might take some time. I don't think we've been able to do exactly what the coach and the team want in such a short time. We need to continue to work day-by-day for what is next. We know it's not easy, but we all have the enthusiasm and the willingness to fight for what we want, which is the title. - Michael Barrios

But while we're talking shooting, let's give some credit to FCD's shooting accuracy. 6 of 9 shots on goal, that's terrific. And 2 of the shot not on goal were blocked, FCD only flat out missed the goal once. That's fantastic and is much better than the last few years.

Pablo Aranguiz on the wing was average, but after the sub and positional shift to the 10 he as much, much better. Let's look at these two charts. His first 64 minutes of play it's all out wide and mostly backward. He plays some hopeful balls into the box and attacking third but none of them connect. But from the 64th minute on it's better, the play is more central and forward. In the last 26 minutes, Aranguiz connected three times in the final third after not connecting once in the first 64 minutes. It's clear if FCD is going to use Aranguiz it needs to be as a 10. 64 touches in total, 84% passing, and fouled 5 times.

Pablo Aranguiz against Houston Dynamo before and after shifting to the #10 role. (5-4-19) (MLS / MLS)

Paxton's an important player to us. He's hard to replace. He's getting healthy and other guys are stepping in. I thought Pablo [Aránguiz] in the midfield did a good job and had that creativity that we need as a team. Next week we'll keep looking to see who's going to step up. - Luchi Gonzalez

Santiago Mosquera looked terrific off the bench. He played with a sense of urgency, an... energy, an intensity, if you will, that I really liked. His showing over the last 26 minute made me optimistic for the next few games from him. He tried to take people on, connect in the offensive end, and make a difference. He scored a nice goal too, only to have it taken away on a poor call. 28 touches, 20 passes at 95%, 2 for 2 on long balls.

If we're gonna rip Dom Badji for misses, we have to praise him for finishing. His goal was classic Badji and was the kind of goal that had me excited about him in the spring when he scored bunches just like this. This kind of goal could get him into the conversation for the start next weekend.

Those are guys [Mosquera & Badji] who have been slowly getting back to their top form and rhythm. Last week, they weren't fully 100 percent, but this week they showed steps in the right direction. I'm really thankful they got to come in and make an impact. They showed hunger and it's good to have those pieces back. - Luchi Gonzalez

Ryan Hollingshead played in a different, much wider, less underneath way in this one. Was it because of Aranguiz playing in front of him as a false wing, or did someone talk to him about it? I liked this wider Hollingshead quite a bit, it better balanced Reggie Cannon on the right and it opens up the middle. Compare his chart from last week to this week, see how wide he played against Dynamo? It will be interesting to see which way this trend goes.

John Nelson only played 10 minutes, but, once again, I likeed what I saw. He too pushed a wide line, helped open the field as Hollingshead did. You can see even in this short time why FCD was willing to trade Marcus Pedroso.

Great FC Dallas fan road representation. Love seeing that many people down in Houston.

El Camino del Medio

I tweeted at halftime that despite FCD's possession, there was a complete disconnect on passes in the final third. Not counting corners, essentially no connected passes were made into the final offensive third in the first 45. The 2nd half, however, was a completely different story. Cannon, Barrios, and Aranguiz started to find people. Check out the two charts of open pay completed passes (no corners or set plays), the second half was significantly better.

FC Dallas completed open play passes at Houston Dynamo. (5-4-19) (MLS / MLS)

Aranguiz's shift was part of that, but it started happening right from the whistle in the 2nd half. Coaching adjustment? Better mentality?

I thought the second half we were much better. We controlled the game, got more on the ball, dictated more of the tempo, created more. Still, Houston is going to be dangerous on the counter, and they showed that. Being down 2-0 is tough, but I have to give credit to our boys because they fought till the end. To get the 2-1 and to push for the tying goal. - Luchi Gonzalez

Ok, mentality then.

Edwin Cerrillo continues to be quite good, particularly as he's still just 18. I've said before I think he's already as good as Victor Ulloa. Cerrillo said he was going to try and do more in the midfield in this one, connecting, etc. And he did do a bit more. Most, but not all, the things he tried worked. 93% passing. BUT... he's in many ways the same player as Carlos Gruezo. Gruezo is, of course, also an excellent player and is much more experienced than Cerrillo. And that may be why FCD is having some problems and losing out on Luchi-Ball effectiveness of late. With two holding-style players in the midfield, Cerrillo and Gruezo, FCD becomes too stagnant. They really took off once Gruezo was removed for Aranguiz in the middle.

Jesus Ferreira had a 100% passing day. That's impressive. Unfortunately, it was all in the middle third. I don't think that's all on him by any means. FCD didn't get a lot of penetration until the 64-minute tactical shirt when Ferreira was taken off.

I liked the blue FC Dallas shorts with the red top. I assumed going into the weekend we would see FCD in their white kit - with blue shorts, I hoped - against the orange of Houston. But somewhere logic got lost and FC Dallas used their "dark" red kit against the "light" Houston orange. Houston's "dark' kit is all black, you see. So someone, probably someone at the league, saw Houston home "light" and said FCD needs to wear their "dark"... and we got red vs orange. Hence the use of the blue shorts, I'm sure, to make the FCD red contrast more with the Dynamo orange.

Muy Feo

I'm not usually one to talk much about referees. Both teams get the same ref, you have to adapt to the calls. But For me, the foul call to deny the 2nd FCD goal isn't a foul. Contact on set plays in a constant, Maynor Figueroa goes down on nothing. Maybe there's some tangling of feet? But that's not a foul. If two players get their legs crossed up and fall down, that doesn't make it a foul.

And finally, Maynor Figueroa absolutely sells this one to the ref to prevent his old team from securing a point in the #TexasDerby. The ref, Alan Kelly, could've redeemed himself from 2 pivotal moments before this, but decides otherwise. #FCDallas #HOUvFCD #DTID pic.twitter.com/F092FgEzYh — Kranks (@MisterKranks) May 6, 2019

Combine that with the poor PK call and FCD has grounds to feel quite aggrieved by the officiating in this game. It cost them at least a tie and maybe a win.

Michael Barrios had a tough day, aside from his assist which was lovely. Unfortunately for Barrios, the yellow card he drew late in the first half means he now has to sit out a game and will break his consecutive game streak at 96 games.

Despite the possession lead by FC Dallas, they somehow allowed Mauro Manotas to have a field day with 6 shots. And only one of them was from outside the 18. Now they did get to him enough that only 2 of his shots were on goal. But that's still way too many chances for a striker of Manotas' quality who only needs 1 chance.

Next Game

FC Dallas hosts the New York Red Bulls, winners of two straight. Kickoff at 1 pm CT at Toyota Stadium on Saturday, May 11th.

In a bonus for FC Dallas, the Red Bulls will be coming off a Wednesday match against the Montreal Impact.