The Morning After: FC Dallas Wins, North Texas SC Loses

Some links, news, and notes after a fascinating weekend for Major League Soccer as a whole and FC Dallas. For North Texas SC, not so much.

For those of you who are enjoying this holiday weekend, which may be a bit longer for some, peace to you.

Our live stream will again emerge from a brief hibernation due to technical issues. Afterburn Soccer has a new location and internet connection, which has not been up to snuff. I hope the kinks have been worked out, so we can have a nice smooth show tonight with much to catch up on.

FC Dallas

To begin, FC Dallas got its first clean sheet of the season in a gutsy but stoic win in Fort Lauderdale against Inter Miami. It was the first we’ve seen of a Jesus Jimenez and Jesus Ferreira combo up top, but it worked. Dallas was a bit unlucky not to get its second goal multiple times throughout.

The bigger story is the clean sheet. Maarten Paes looked fantastic in goal once again, one of the best signings in recent years for FC Dallas. The defense stood up to the task, despite a late penalty kick nullified after VAR. The team will appreciate being able to put this behind them and build on it as they return home.

This twitter thread from Inter Miami reporter Alex Windley showed how Dallas got the job done tactically:

North Texas SC

For its home opener and after two straight wins, North Texas looked to start strong.

But, oof, the young squad fell apart quickly, ultimately losing 4-1 to against a visiting Vancouver Whitecaps 2 team that was ruthless up front.

After the game, Head Coach Javier Cano sounded deflated. "The difference is the defensive aspect. Last week, we controlled the game and defended every set piece perfectly. Every cross, we were in position. Today we weren’t. Today, we changed our shape due to circumstances but we tried to put our best players on the field but maybe this shape didn’t help us. But we learned. That’s it. We need to improve.”

One loss won’t set the team back, but there is work to be done.

Major League Soccer Is Wild

Austin FC got crushed by Los Angeles FC. Fans are not happy.

Los Angeles Galaxy got crushed by the Houston Dynamo. Their fans are even less happy.

There was also this incredible red card dished out to an LAG veteran.

The San Jose Earthquakes and New York Red Bulls match had 20 minutes of stoppage time because a Red Bulls player used a racial slur. Despicable. Hopefully, the league will act swiftly to address this.

See you tonight at 8 PM CST - the Afterburn Soccer show is back.