FC Dallas opened the 2020 season with a victory over the Philadelphia Union with goals from Zdenek Ondrasek and Paxton Pomykal. Here are three things we learned.
FC Dallas opened their 2020 account on Saturday afternoon when they hosted one of the premier Eastern Conference teams from last season, the Philadelphia Union. However, while the Union were favored to go on the road and win, goals in the second half from Zdenek Ondrasek and Paxton Pomykal were the difference for Dallas. The man nicknamed ‘The Cobra’ opened his goal account while Pomykal returned in style after being sidelined by offseason surgery.
For the Union, it was not the performance they would have hoped to display. It was a quiet night offensively and, despite outshooting Dallas, the high-quality chances produced by the home side could not be mirrored by the Union.
Here are three things we learned from FC Dallas’ win.
3. It could have been more
FC Dallas had more chances to score more than the two goals they did score. Jesus Ferriera had two chances that he should have done better with, while Michael Barrios had a first-half chance well saved by Andre Blake from close range. Meanwhile, new signing Thiago Santos had a shot hit the post, which would have given him a dream debut.
All-in-all, this match could have been 3-0 or 4-0 if Dallas had been able to convert these chances. It really was a much more dominant display than the scoreline suggests — or than many people expected before kick-off.
The Union had very few real opportunities to breakthrough. Kacper Przybylko missed a chance that he sent wide in the second half and Alejandro Bedoya tried from long range but there wasn’t much else for them here. FC Dallas were dominant, which is extremely telling for both sides.