On a rainy night in Houston, FC Dallas did something it hasn’t done since 2016: beat the Dynamo away from Frisco. Despite trailing early, Dallas recovered thanks to a pair of second half goals. You’ve read all the recaps already though, let’s break down the players of import from the season opening win.

All stats are per FotMob unless otherwise noted.

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Petar Musa

Another dominant day for the Moose, as he opened Dallas’ 2025 scoring in the 55th minute thanks to an absolute gift via Houston’s Ethan Bartlow. The bigger play would come later, putting Sebastian Kowalcyzk on skates before unleashing a pass and freeing Anderson Julio for the winner in the 76th minute. A Moose of the Match performance for Dallas’ biggest transfer signing.

In preseason we saw a bit more of Musa as a play-maker in addition to his scoring capabilities. He went 22/31 on accurate passes, which is 71% and was 3/4 on accurate long balls. His xG+xA was 0.84, which was second best in the game. All of that came on just 41 touches and three in the opposing box. He’ll have more voluminous nights, but he made the most of the limited touches Saturday.

His contributions on defense deserve recognition as well. Musa had two headed clearances, six recoveries, and won four of his five aerial duels. Is that world breaking? No. Is it a wonderful thing to add to an outstanding offensive night? You bet your buns. If Musa can be an elite offensive player AND contribute some on defense, watch out.

Anderson Julio

You are probably wondering if Musa was second in xG+xA, who was first? It was the debuting Julio, who sealed Dallas’ first Bayou City victory in a decade posting a 1.41 in that metric. The effort on his goal alone is one that will be remembered for the rest of the season.

Yes, Andrew Tarbell did Dallas a solid by forgetting how to play soccer for a few seconds. Don’t let that distract from the fact that Julio made the run as soon as Musa got his first touch before the pass. Julio was flanked by two defenders, though not for long as he turned on the jets to get the goal. That level of effort and speed must have given manager Eric Quill chills, because it represents exactly the level of play he’s looking for.

More than anything else though Julio’s debut showed another thing we had hoped for in preseason: Julio as the outlet. Often times leading up to the season, when a Dallas player needed to advance the ball they looked for Julio. It became a simple pattern, and an effective one as Julio was often in place to do something positive. He was again Saturday, to the tune of the game winning goal.

I mentioned in my predictions column from Friday that Julio’s best case season scenario is eating when the opposition is distracted with Musa and Lucho Acosta. Go back to Julio’s goal and what are Houston doing? Dealing with Musa and Acosta. Julio made himself available while the Dynamo worried about the DPs, and he cashed in. That’s exactly what he should be doing, and if he continues as such he’ll have a bushel of goals to show for it.

Osaze Urhoghide

Coming into the opener it was a toss up of whether Urhoghide would even play. Visa concerns plus not being with the squad for almost all of preseason meant Quill had a choice to make. The visa came through early and thanks to playing almost all of the season with Amiens before coming to Frisco, Osaze got his debut at the first opportunity over Lalas Abubakar.

What a debut it was. Six duels won, five on the ground one in the air. He drew two fouls, headed three clearances, notched a pair of blocks and five recoveries. Couple all that with a 90% passing accuracy on 58 attempts and that’s how you start your campaign with a new club.

There’s a long road to go, but Urhoghide did a lot to show why Dallas broke their record transfer fee on a defender for the England national. He was calm, collected, and rarely put a toe out of line Saturday demonstrating his abilities to walk the line between physical and reckless. He was a presence on defense while doing his best to keep the offense moving. Job well done for the 24 year old.

Sebastien Ibeagha

And yet despite all the nice things I said about Urhoghide, you can argue he didn’t have the best night of a Dallas center back. Ibeagha was low key stellar for the Toros. A robust 94% on his accurate passes, including 80% on long balls to go with six clearances, five of those headed and a pair of recoveries. His duels could have been better, but overall he contributed quite a bit to the Dallas victory.

Which also represents why the Urhoghide signing is so important. If Osaze turns into the CB 1 Dallas thinks he will, that we got a large glimpse of Saturday, that means Ibeagha can slot into CB 2 which is probably his best position at this stage of his career. He’s a good player, better than plenty give him credit for, and his new partnership with Urhoghide yielded strong returns on night one.

Marco Farfan

This one might surprise some folks, but hear me out. Farfan’s Saturday evening was not his best outing ever, and I think a lot of folks remember the lack of big time passing from the left back. Marco didn’t register an accurate cross or long ball this game. He didn’t create any chances, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t contribute.

His accurate passing of 83% on 55 attempts is good for a defensive minded left back, as were his five passes into the final third. The defensive work however? That’s where he shined as usual. Two tackles won, four clearances, two interceptions, four recoveries, five duels won including four ground duels, and generated two fouls.

The other reason he’s featured here? Farfan had to deal with Houston’s progressive right back Griffin Dorsey all night. The results? Only two accurate crosses out of 12 attempts, one accurate long ball, twice he was dispossessed, and he only had one pass into the final third. If you like simple numbers: Dorsey’s rating on the night was 6.4, Farfan’s was 7.3. Farfan did plenty in the opener, but his biggest contribution is keeping Dorsey from doing much of anything.

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