FC Dallas vs LA Galaxy: Game grades

FC Dallas now has back-to-back wins to their name, which feels like a relief.

On Saturday, FC Dallas won 1-0 against the LA Galaxy as they relied on their defensive closeout last game against Real Salt Lake to protect and see out another 1-0 victory. This win moved Dallas up into the fourth position in the Western Conference.

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Maarten Paes (GK) – 7.2

While Paes once again struggled to influence the game through his passing, the Dutch goalkeeper had one of his best shot-stopping performances of the year. In addition to saving a penalty, Paes ranked around the 80th percentile for three different measurements of expected conceded goals. Moreover, according to American Soccer Analysis, Paes’ goalkeeping prevented nearly one goal (.75), which is massive for a goalkeeper in one match.

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Ema Twumasi (RB) – 5.7

Twumasi had a slightly below-average performance but his contribution to the clean sheet along with some influential actions in the final third landed him an above-average rating. The Ghanian ranked above the 50th percentile in just his total actions and passing and struggled to have a consistent effect in his playmaking (41st percentile), defensive (31st percentile), and dribbling (44th percentile) grades. Hopefully, in future games, Twumasi can provide more of a balance across his major categories rather than ranking above-average in only one or two.

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Jose Martinez (CB) – 5.7

Martinez had a very up and down performance as he ranked considerably above-average in some categories and considerably below-average in others. Specifically, the Spaniard ranked in the 58th percentile for his total actions and 63rd percentile for his passing, yet he also ranked in the 34th percentile for his defensive grade and just the 33rd percentile for his carrying grade. Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that Martinez had basically no aerial presence, as he ranked in just the fifth percentile for that category.

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Matt Hedges (CB) – 5.9

Hedges didn’t have that great of an overall performance; however, like Martinez, the American did enough to ensure Dallas kept a clean sheet and the lead. While Hedges also did a good job with most of his total actions (52nd percentile) and passing the ball (66th percentile), the American struggled in pretty much every other category as he ranked in the 40th percentile for his aerials, 37th percentile for his defensive grade, and 34th percentile for his carrying grade. Despite the fact that Hedges was below-average for most of his grades, Dallas were still able to keep a clean sheet, which shows the defensive upside that this team has if everyone is playing well.

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Marco Farfan (LB) – 8.2

Farfan had a solid overall performance as he ranked at or above average for all of his major categories. Specifically, the American ranked in the 56th percentile for his passing, 48th percentile for his playmaking, 53rd percentile for his defense, and 54th percentile for his dribbling. Not to mention the beautiful through ball that Farfan played which led to the lone goal of the match. Therefore, I think it’s safe to say that Farfan had an important role in the outcome of this game.

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Edwin Cerrillo (CDM) – 4.8

Cerrillo’s overall performance wasn’t that great, but once again, he did enough to ensure that Dallas maintained their clean sheet. The American ranked below-average across the board, which includes his total actions (37th percentile), passing (46th percentile), defense (41st percentile), and offensive (46th percentile) grades. As you can see, Cerrillo wasn’t too far below average but if he wants to take away this position from Facundo Quignon, he will need to perform better in this position.

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Paxton Pomykal (CM) – 7.2

Pomykal had a very solid all-around performance as he ranked around or above the 50th percentile for all of his statistics and made some key contributions for Dallas in the final third. The American landed in the 69th percentile for his total actions, 58th percentile for his passing, 47th percentile for his defending, and the 71st percentile for his offensive grade. One thing that I’ve noticed from Pomykal over his last couple of appearances is his number of pressures. Pomykal often pressures defenders but he rarely succeeds in getting the ball back for his team off of these pressures. I think this is a tactical setup from Nico Estevez but if Pomykal can be more effective at recovering the ball off these pressures, then his defensive grade will surely increase.

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Paul Arriola (Winger) – 4.1

Like Ferreira, Arriola was also absent for much of this match as none of his major categories eclipsed the 50th percentile. Specifically, Arriola ranked in the 48th percentile for his passing, 44th percentile for his playmaking and 28th percentile for his dribbling. These low grades could also be due to the fact that Arriola didn’t receive the ball much in the final third, as the American landed in the 39th percentile for his total actions and 24th percentile for his offensive grade.

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Jesus Ferreira (ST) – 5.0

Playing out of position as an attacking midfielder in this match, Ferreira pretty much struggled across the board. While the American landed three of his five shots on target and nearly beat Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond, the American ranked below-average for all of his major categories, apart from his offensive grade where Ferreira ranked in the 53rd percentile. This is partially due to the fact that he didn’t receive many touches, as indicated through his total actions rating in the 25th percentile, but even when Ferreira got on the ball, he wasn’t that great, ranking in just the 25th percentile for his passing, 45th percentile for his dribbling, and 21st percentile for his playmaking.

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Franco Jara (ST) – 7.6

In only his fourth start this season, Jara certainly influenced the outcome of this game through his calm finish through the legs of opposing goalkeeper Jonathan Bond. While this contributed to Jara’s above-average shooting grade in the 52nd percentile, the Argentine also influenced the game in many other areas, which include his passing (59th percentile) and dribbling (65th percentile). In future games, I would like to see Jara become more active in the air and press a bit better, but this still shouldn’t take anything away from his performance against the Galaxy.

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Alan Velasco (Winger) – 7.6

Velasco had a very well-rounded performance against the Galaxy as he ranked above the 60th percentile for all of his major categories. The Argentine had no problems getting on the ball as he ranked in the 72nd percentile for total actions and when he received the ball, he was also productive, ranking in the 65th percentile for his passing, 69th percentile for his playmaking, and 64th percentile for his dribbling.

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SUBS

Nkosi Tafari () – N/A

Brandon Servania () – N/A

Jader Obrian () – N/A

Benjamin Redzic () – N/A

These players aren’t graded because I currently do not have a grading system that will fairly evaluate players, who played under 30 minutes compared to the rest of the team, who played most of the game. This is something that I want to improve upon in the future.