Evening After: Away Draws Are Good

FC Dallas earned a coveted point away at Vancouver. What are you pondering from the game?

Hey, it’s Oscars night, so I know many of us are not thinking about soccer.

But we should, especially as we look back to FC Dallas’ vital away point earned in Vancouver.

Remember what Nico said last week? “Vancouver is a weird place to play.”

That held up on Saturday afternoon as both teams generated opportunities and looked dangerous. FC Dallas scored first off of a bizarre but beautiful Nkosi Tafari to Sebastian Ibeagha header that was just a bit of luck and skill. The equalizer for Vancouver came off of the knee/leg of Paul Arriola who was trying to clear the ball.

Beyond that, while there were opportunities for both teams, a draw was inevitable as the game wore on. FC Dallas was comfortable with that result, bringing on Jose Martinez late.

In the post-game, Nico was satisfied with his team’s effort, especially since there was an opportunity for his squad to grab a winner. In essence, to come away with a point on the road while also putting yourself in a position to get the full three points is a solid result for any Major League Soccer head coach. It’s fun to see Nico come to recognize more and more how this league is a grind and what can seem like a disappointing result is moving your squad in the right direction.

A couple of questions linger that we will get to on the Afterburn Soccer show:

• Will rotation on the backline hurt or help FC Dallas over the course of the season? Will a preferred pairing emerge over time, or will we see starters who fits the matchup week to week?

• Already, we are witnessing some guys take heavy hits to their bodies. I didn’t go back and count the number of times Paxton went down, but it was not fun. Paul Arriola came off with a knock as well. Sebastian Lletget is rounding into form, bit by bit. Should we be concerned?

• The bench hasn’t flashed a lot, just yet. Sure, some of the defenders have done their job to preserve two results in a row, but we really could use an attacker who can help push the team. Frankly, Jader Obrian, who should excel in that row, has looked terrible, earning two yellows in each appearance. More work to be done here.

All in all, we take the result. It will be a long season, and one point on the road is vital for positioning as we go. Let’s hope the team keeps finding ways to improve.