Dallas, TX
Shorthanded Minnesota United draws 1-1 with FC Dallas
Minnesota United ended up facing FC Dallas with, effectively, half its first team.
When the opponent is FC Dallas, half a team is still enough to get a point.
The Loons, missing 11 of 26 first-team players through international call-up, injury, or excused absence, still managed to hold on for a 1-1 draw at home against a Dallas team that has claimed just three points in nine road games this season.
If anything, Minnesota could have gone on to win what turned out to be a slow, cagey game between two teams that appeared to be willing to settle for a draw.
As early gifts go, you could hardly beat the one that Minnesota got from Dallas. Attempting to keep the ball in the ninth minute, the visitors decided on a series of short passes from a goal kick. Instead, when the ball was passed back to keeper Maarten Paes, his first touch on the ball was terrible, and his scrambling attempt at a pass was even worse, going directly to Bongokuhle Hlongwane at the top of the penalty area. The ball deflected to Hassani Dotson, who blasted a low shot past an embarrassed Paes to make the game 1-0.
Just six minutes later, though, Dallas tied the score from a planned corner-kick routine. Instead of a cross, a pass went to Asier Illarramendi at the top of the penalty area, who slid the ball to his left for a first-time shot from Liam Fraser – and the midfielder hooked a curling shot past Clint Irwin to tie the game.
Amazingly, it was Fraser’s first MLS goal, even though the 26-year-old midfielder has played the equivalent of 50 full games in the league.
Loons backup goalkeeper Clint Irwin, making his first MLS appearance of the year, was finally called into action in the 69th minute – and he responded with an excellent double save. First, the 35-year-old dug out a close-range header from Bernand Kamungo, then sprung to his right to deny a bouncing shot from Paul Arriola.
Minnesota was missing defenders DJ Taylor and Hugo Bacharach to injury, and Miguel Tapias was away working on getting his green card – but, in a surprise, the Loons ended up missing only eight players to international duty. Zarek Valentin, who played 90 minutes in a World Cup qualifier for Puerto Rico on Thursday, returned to the team ahead of the game.
It was needed depth for a bench that was still two players short of full strength, even after the Loons signed four MNUFC2 players to short-term contracts to help fill out the roster. One of them, Apple Valley’s Kage Romanshyn, made his MLS debut as a substitute in the 78th minute.
With Maplewood’s Devin Padelford and Medina’s Caden Clark in the starting lineup, and Minneapolis’s Patrick Weah already on the field as a sub, that meant Minnesota briefly had four Minnesotans on the field – almost certainly a record for the team.
Dallas, TX
New video of Lake Dallas explosion draws focus on order decades ago to remove old plastic pipes
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
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