With the small change this season of MLS using away goals as a tie-breaker, the Osvaldo Alonso goal down in Frisco, Texas assured one thing in Monday’s game – two sides pushing for goals. With both teams already prone to score, it should lead to an up-tempo match with many chances for each side.
The away-goals rule is simple.
If the match is tied at the end of regulation of the second leg of the series, the team with more away goals advances. If the two teams are equal, then Sounders FC will host two 15-minute periods that are essentially a blank slate. The team that scores more in those final 30 minutes wins. If still tied, the series is decided by penalties.
After the 1-1 result in the first leg, FC Dallas and Sounders FC would both advance with any win. A nil-nil draw on Monday puts Seattle into the Western Conference Finals. A 1-1 result grants everyone bonus soccer. Any other draw means Dallas advances.
“We still need to win at home. We definitely don't want to get a 2-2 tie at home, but having an away goal certainly helps,” Head Coach Sigi Schmid said after Sunday’s draw. “It means they (FC Dallas) know in order for them to come out with anything in Seattle they've got to win the game, and if they're not going to win the game, they've got to get two goals. It puts a little more pressure on them, to a certain extent. But I know we'll play better being at home, and playing in front of our crowd is a good thing for us.”
When both sides are pushing for victory, it tends to open the match. Attacking players see a bit more space as two-way players get forward. This means that Dallas’ central mids will get forward just a touch more often. An extra yard or two for Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey to operate frees them from the chains that held them back in the first leg. With FCD’s fullbacks pushing up, the wide play of Lamar Neagle and DeAndre Yedlin will be key. They will need to run the lines.
It goes the other way, as well. Dallas will know that Seattle is forward and try to get behind Sounders FC’s attacks. Neither side can afford to sit back and absorb. It should be a more natural match for each team. On the season, the Sounders and FC Dallas were both in the top seven by touches per possession advantages on the year.
Fabian Castillo and Andres Escobar are No. 1 and No. 3 at successful dribbles per game. Both have shown over the season that if they have a little bit of space they can make even more for themselves.
Clint, Oba and Marco Pappa showed the Sounders faithful that even in tight spaces, they can slip each other through and on goal. Neagle joins them in demonstrating that from distance they are dangerous.
Giving MLS-quality players small spaces is dangerous, and a match full of them should lead to goals. Considering that in four matchups this year neither team has held the other scoreless, Monday should be all about goals. On the season, Seattle has scored more of those than Dallas.
