Champions League: FC Dallas vs. Arabe Unido – 3 Takeaways

FC Dallas lost the match on a 92nd minute goal in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, however, they still advance to the semifinals with a 5-2 aggregate advantage.

It wasn’t the prettiest of performances from FC Dallas on Wednesday night, as they were unable to replicate their performance from a week earlier in a 2-1 loss to Arabe Unido. The club from Panama took the win in the 92nd minute when Leslie Hernandez headed home a goal off of a corner kick.

The club from Texas will now face Pachuca in the CCL semifinals, the Mexican club defeated Saprissa 4-0 on Tuesday to advance.

Here are three takeaways from yesterday’s match.

#1 Trouble on Set Pieces

Both of Arabe Unido’s goals came off of set pieces, as the first was headed home off a free kick and the second came from a corner. Last season this was a re-occurring problem, and tonight’s mishaps were especially concerning as the backline featured a similar line up to what we saw last week. In short, FC Dallas fans will be hoping this isn’t a sign of things to come in the opening weeks of the Major League Soccer season.

#2 Offensive Production Down

Offensively, FC Dallas were unable to produce the same numbers they did last time out against Arabe Unido. They only managed five shots compared to Arabe’s 14, only three of the five were on target. Additionally, passing accuracy in the final third was only at 60%. The only goal of the match for Dallas was an ugly own goal. The attacking players will not leave the match feeling the same level of confidence they did a week ago.

#3 Can’t be too critical

Despite the lackluster performance at the end, it wasn’t the type of match that Dallas could get super excited about. The trip to the semifinals was essentially booked after the own goal in the 23rd minute, as the aggregate stood at 5-0. For most of the match it had a friendly like atmosphere to it, but it didn’t diminish the hard challenges we saw a few times

On another note, this is still early in the season and this team still has a long way to go – including a quick trip to LA this weekend. The players aren’t in full form yet, and overall it’s been a rather successful preseason.

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Chris Seitz turned in a solid performance in net and was arguably the player of the match for Dallas. He was unlucky to not come away with a clean sheet and was visibly upset with his defenders over the last two goals of the match. His play was a big reason why Dallas are advancing to the semifinals.