Dallas vs St. Louis City: Resumen

FC Dallas delivered a commanding performance to secure a 3-0 victory over St. Louis City SC in their MLS encounter at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night. The hosts finally gave their faithful supporters something to celebrate on '90s Night in Frisco, Texas, marking just their second home win of the 2025 campaign.

Before a sellout crowd of 11,004 fans—the 27th consecutive capacity attendance—FC Dallas put on a clinical display of finishing. Brazilian midfielder Kaick opened his MLS account in the 24th minute, benefiting from Sebastian Lletget's 50th career assist in the competition. The standout performer was undoubtedly Croatian striker Petar Musa, who continued his remarkable form with a brace, recording his second consecutive multi-goal game and pushing his season tally to a team-leading 11 goals.

At the other end, Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Paes had a relatively quiet evening but made two crucial saves to preserve his third clean sheet of the season, demonstrating the defensive solidity that FC Dallas displayed throughout the match.

The comprehensive victory provides a significant boost to FC Dallas' playoff aspirations, improving their record to 6-10-7 (25 points) and creating some breathing room from the Western Conference basement currently occupied by their opponents. St. Louis City SC's struggles continued as they fell to 4-13-6 (18 points), leaving them firmly rooted at the bottom of the standings.

With this performance, FC Dallas has given themselves a platform to build upon as they prepare to host New York City FC in less than a week, while St. Louis will need to regroup quickly to salvage their increasingly difficult season.

The fans deserved this performance after some tough weeks. They've been incredible showing up game after game, and tonight we finally gave them a reason to cheer. When you see Kaick get his first goal and Petar continuing his scoring form, it shows what we're capable of when we execute our game plan. This needs to be our standard moving forward, not the exception," declared Eric Quill, FC Dallas head coach.

Getting three points at home was crucial for our confidence. We've been working hard in training, and tonight everything clicked. Having Sebastian provide that assist for my first MLS goal is special—he's a player I've looked up to since joining the team. Now we need to build on this momentum," said Kaick after opening his MLS scoring account.

We're disappointed with the result and our overall performance tonight. FC Dallas punished our mistakes efficiently. We created some chances but lacked the final touch, and against a team with clinical finishers like Musa, you pay for those missed opportunities. We need to regroup quickly and show a better version of ourselves in the coming matches," admitted David Critchley, St. Louis City SC head coach.

Eleven goals is a decent return at this stage of the season, but I'm more pleased that the team got a much-needed win. Breaking the club record with 27 goals across my first two seasons is nice personally, but meaningless if we don't climb the table. Tonight was a step in the right direction," stated Petar Musa, reflecting on his brace and season performance.

The Western Conference standings remain tight despite FC Dallas' and St. Louis City's current positions. Dallas showed tonight they have the firepower to make a late-season push, while St. Louis needs to address their defensive vulnerabilities if they want to avoid finishing at the bottom. That clean sheet for Paes could be a turning point for Dallas' defensive confidence," analyzed Taylor Twellman, MLS analyst.

Possession: FC Dallas 54% - 46% St. Louis City SC

Shots (On Target): FC Dallas 14 (7) - 9 (2) St. Louis City SC

Corners: FC Dallas 6 - 4 St. Louis City SC

Fouls: FC Dallas 11 - 13 St. Louis City SC

Yellow Cards: FC Dallas 2 - 3 St. Louis City SC

Red Cards: FC Dallas 0 - 0 St. Louis City SC

Key Player Statistics:

Petar Musa (FC Dallas): 2 goals, 4 shots (3 on target), 28 touches, 79% pass completion

Kaick (FC Dallas): 1 goal, 2 shots (1 on target), 42 touches, 83% pass completion

Sebastian Lletget (FC Dallas): 1 assist (his 50th in MLS), 3 key passes, 56 touches, 91% pass completion

Maarten Paes (FC Dallas): 2 saves, 3 claims, 12 successful long balls, 100% save percentage

Roman Bürki (St. Louis City SC): 4 saves, 1 claim, 8 successful long balls

Marcel Hartel (St. Louis City SC): 3 shots (1 on target), 2 key passes, 54 touches, 85% pass completion

FC Dallas dominated the statistical categories across the board, reflecting their control throughout the match. Their superior shot accuracy (50% on target compared to St. Louis' 22%) proved decisive in the final scoreline. The home side also maintained better possession while creating more quality scoring opportunities, as evidenced by their expected goals (xG) advantage of 2.4 to 0.7.

24' GOAL (1-0) - FC Dallas breaks the deadlock as Kaick scores his first MLS goal. Sebastian Lletget delivers a perfectly weighted through ball, slicing open the St. Louis defense. The Brazilian midfielder makes no mistake with a composed right-footed finish past Roman Bürki, sending the Toyota Stadium crowd into celebration.

37' SAVE - Maarten Paes produces an acrobatic save to deny Marcel Hartel's curling effort from the edge of the box, preserving FC Dallas' lead heading toward halftime.

43' YELLOW CARD - St. Louis defender Timo Baumgartl receives the first caution of the match for a tactical foul on Bernard Kamungo, who was launching a promising counter-attack down the right flank.

51' GOAL (2-0) - Petar Musa doubles FC Dallas' advantage early in the second half. Following a St. Louis turnover in midfield, Ramiro plays a quick ball to Musa, who outmuscles Joshua Yaro before firing a powerful shot into the bottom corner from 18 yards out.

65' SUBSTITUTION - St. Louis City makes a double change, bringing on fresh legs in attack in an attempt to find a way back into the match. The visitors switch to a more offensive 4-3-3 formation, pushing numbers forward.

74' CROSSBAR - St. Louis comes close to pulling one back as substitute Cedric Teuchert's dipping volley from outside the box beats Paes but crashes against the crossbar.

83' GOAL (3-0) - Petar Musa puts the game beyond doubt with his second goal of the night and 11th of the season. After a flowing team move involving Lletget and Kamungo, Musa applies a clinical first-time finish from 12 yards, cementing FC Dallas' dominance and securing all three points.

The FC Dallas versus St. Louis City SC rivalry is still in its infancy in MLS, with St. Louis only joining the league as an expansion team in 2023. Prior to this encounter, the teams had met just five times, with St. Louis holding a slight historical edge with two wins to FC Dallas' one, alongside two draws.

Interestingly, this 3-0 victory represents FC Dallas' largest margin of victory in the fixture's brief history. Their previous win came via a narrow 2-1 scoreline in August 2024, while St. Louis had recorded a 3-1 win in their inaugural meeting and a 2-0 shutout later that same season.

The individual battle between strikers Petar Musa and Klauss has been particularly noteworthy across these meetings. Musa has now netted five goals against St. Louis in six appearances, making them his favorite MLS opponent. Klauss, meanwhile, has three goals in the fixture but was effectively neutralized by the FC Dallas defensive pairing of Abubakar and Ibeagha in this latest encounter.

Tactically, FC Dallas has gradually adapted to counter St. Louis' high-pressing style that took the league by surprise in their expansion season. Coach Eric Quill's emphasis on quick transitions and exploiting space behind St. Louis' aggressive defensive line paid dividends in this match, suggesting a blueprint for future success against them.

With both teams currently occupying positions near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, their future matchups this season could have significant implications for avoiding the wooden spoon rather than playoff positioning. St. Louis will be eager to reestablish their early dominance in this budding rivalry when they host FC Dallas in their next meeting scheduled for September 2025.

Following this dominant 3-0 victory, FC Dallas improved their MLS record to 6-10-7, accumulating 25 points from 23 matches. This result lifts them to 22nd place in the overall MLS standings, still outside the playoff positions but creating some separation from the bottom of the table. With 11 matches remaining in their regular season campaign, FC Dallas now sits 7 points below the playoff line, giving them a challenging but not impossible path to postseason contention.

St. Louis City SC continues to struggle in their sophomore MLS season, falling to 4-13-6 with just 18 points from 23 matches. They remain anchored at the bottom of the Western Conference and 28th overall in the 29-team league, ahead of only one Eastern Conference side. Their negative goal difference of -21 (the worst in the Western Conference) highlights their difficulties at both ends of the pitch.

The win provides FC Dallas with momentum as they enter a crucial stretch of fixtures, including their upcoming home match against New York City FC. If they can build on this performance and establish some consistency, particularly at Toyota Stadium, they could make a late push toward the playoff positions.

For St. Louis City, their inaugural 2024 season's promise has faded dramatically. While mathematically still capable of reaching the playoffs, they would need an extraordinary turnaround to climb nine positions in the Western Conference standings. Their immediate focus will likely shift to developing players and finding a formula that works for the remainder of this season and building toward 2026.