FC Dallas and Austin FC Play to Scoreless Draw Despite Chance-Filled Night

Twelve shots for FC Dallas, eight for Austin FC, a decisive goalkeeper at each end and, in the end, nothing to show for it: the score finished 0-0 at Toyota Stadium. Both goals saw plenty of chances, but not a single ball found the back of the net in 90 minutes, even though the second half had stretches of end-to-end play that promised more.

The match opened with FC Dallas pressing into the opposing box almost from the start. In the 5th minute Kaick tried a shot from outside the box and the visiting goalkeeper answered high to the middle. Two minutes later came another attempt, this time from Joaquín Valiente, also turned away. The clearest chance of the first half came in the 10th minute: Kaick, alone from close range after an assist from Valiente, ran into a save low to his left. Austin FC answered through Joseph Rosales, who tried twice from outside the box without hitting the target, and with a header from Mikkel Desler off a corner that sailed high. The first half ended scoreless despite the back and forth.

The script didn't change much in the second half. Jon Gallagher had Austin FC's best chance in the 51st minute, with a shot that grazed the left corner of the goal and that the home goalkeeper managed to deflect away. Kaick answered four minutes later with another attempt from the center of the box that was blocked. With Myrto Uzuni, Brandon Vázquez, Herman Johansson and Santiago Moreno coming on past the hour mark, both teams looked for answers up front, but the chances kept failing to turn into goals: Uzuni tried twice without finding the target, Osaze Urhoghide headed just wide in the 79th minute, and deep into stoppage time both Herman Johansson and Logan Farrington tested Austin FC's goalkeeper without beating him. The match wound down amid fouls and yellow cards (Desler, Shaq Moore, Rosales and Ramiro all picked one up) until the final whistle.

What the numbers say

Austin FC controlled more of the ball, with 55.1% possession compared to the home side's 44.9%, and was also sharper in the passing game. Even so, FC Dallas was more dangerous going forward: it took more shots and generated, based on our estimate calculated from shot locations, an xG of 1.663 compared to just 0.283 for Austin FC. That's a wide gap reflecting the clearer chances the home team created, though in soccer those numbers don't always pay off, and this was one of those nights.

The result also strays quite a bit from what was projected before kickoff. Pregame odds gave FC Dallas a 52% chance to win, against 23% for Austin FC and 25% for a draw, with expected goals of 1.96 for the home side and 1.26 for the visitors, a combined total of 3.23. None of that came to pass: the higher scoring match that was expected turned into a scoreless draw with no goals from either side, something none of those numbers saw coming.

In the Western Conference standings, the draw leaves FC Dallas in fourth place with 44 points from 26 games played (12 wins, 8 draws and 6 losses), while Austin FC sits in 11th place with 30 points from 26 matches (7 wins, 9 draws and 10 losses). There's a gap of 14 points between the two sides in the table, something tonight's match didn't reflect on the field: Austin FC held its own from start to finish and walked away with a point that, given how the game played out, looks pretty good on them.

In the end, the blank scoreline leaves the sense of a match more even than the pregame numbers suggested, with FC Dallas closer to a goal but unable to finish, and an Austin FC that held firm and picked up a point on the road.