By: Anthony Miller
FC Dallas couldn’t hold an early second half lead as they tied with the Seattle Sounders 1-1 at home Saturday.
It was a fast start for FC Dallas as Jader Obrian struck first with a good off the assist from Paul Arriola to give them a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute. FC Dallas had four shots in the first half including a late shot by Facundo Quignon in the 46th minute that hit off the post and almost a goal.
The defense performed well with Seattle having limited opportunities to shoot in the first half as FC Dallas led 1-0 at halftime. This was only the third time all season FC Dallas had a lead at halftime winning both other matches.
The second half was another story as the script flipped for FC Dallas quickly. Seattle got off to the fast start instead with a 57th minute goal by Alex Roldan to equal the game at 1-1.
Things only got worse from there for FC Dallas as Arriola went down two separate times with a lower body injury. He ended up being substituted out of the game in the 70th minute.
The Sounders would have two other opportunities to score, but FC Dallas could not come up with good opportunities. After seven minutes was added at the end of the game, the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Each team was rewarded a point in the standings. While Seattle is comfortable in the playoff hunt, Saturday night’s result in FC Dallas puts the team in an uncomfortable spot.
Current FC Dallas Playoff Picture and Upcoming Schedule
With the tie, FC Dallas has 35 points in the standings as the are now tied with Sporting Kansas City in ninth place. Unfortunately for FC Dallas, Sporting Kansas City picked up a 1-0 win over Minnesota on Saturday. That means Sporting Kansas City owns the tie breaker over FC Dallas which means if the playoffs started today, FC Dallas would be on the outside looking in.
The good news is FC Dallas has seven games left on the schedule so there is still time to come back. Sporting Kansas City only has five games left so the room for error is much smaller for them than FC Dallas.
Coming up on the schedule, FC Dallas has two matches this week on Wednesday and Saturday. They travel on the road Wednesday against Real Salt Lake who is sixth in the Western Conference with 40 points. Saturday’s matchup is against Columbus Crew who is fifth in the Eastern Conference standings with 45 points.
Those are tough matches that will test FC Dallas’ toughness playing two team who will more than likely have a spot in the playoffs. With three home games left, those are the games FC Dallas must win to stay pace for the playoffs. One or two losses total won’t be the end of the world, but not winning at home might be costly for them.
Defense has not been as much of a concern for FC Dallas this season, but offense continues to be a question on whether they have the scorers to be competitive. These next seven games will give fans a much better idea on what kind of team FC Dallas is and if they are ready to take the leap to be a playoff team.
Featured Image via X (@FCDallas)