FC DALLAS vs. AUSTIN FC
2021 MLS Regular Season
August 29 - 7:00PM
Q2 Stadium, Austin, TX
FS1 | FCDallas.com/Radio | 1270AM
ATXvDAL
HEAD-TO-HEAD
- FCD record: 5-9-7 (22 pts., 11th in West)
- ATX record: 5-11-4 (19 pts., 12th in West)
- FCD vs. ATX all-time: 1-0-0 (2 GF, 0 GA)
- FCD vs. ATX away: 0-0-0 (0 GF, 0 GA)
ATX ROUND 2
- FC Dallas travels south to take on Austin FC for the second time this season. The Texas clubs met for the first time in MLS play earlier this month at Toyota Stadium, with FC Dallas earning a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from Ryan Hollingshead and Jesús Ferreira. Now, Dallas will look to repeat the trick and take all three points from Austin away from home.
Defender Emmanuel Twumasi: ““They’ve got a lot of good attacking players but it’s not really about them. We’ve got to make it about us to try and get a win. We’re not doing so well right now and we need to turn the page and hopefully can do that in Austin.”
NEW AT Q2
- Sunday’s game will be FC Dallas’ very first trip to Austin FC’s new home, Q2 Stadium. Since 1996, Dallas has a 9-13-5 record in its first away game against a new MLS team. Since its stadium opened midseason, Austin has posted a 3-4-2 home record. Q2 Stadium has already earned a reputation for its vibrant atmosphere, something Dallas will have to contend with on Sunday.
Head Coach Luchi Gonzalez: "“(Q2 Stadium) is going to be alive with a lot of energy. I think we’ve improved in the last month and a half of channeling opposition’s energies into our own energy on the field. That’s something that we embrace, we want to play games with pressure, we want to play games with those types of environments. That’s why we love this game and want to step forward into that challenge in a new stadium.”
TAFARI TIME
- Defender Nkosi Tafari Has been something of a revelation this year. The 24-year-old got his break seven games into the season after injuries sidelined both Matt Hedges and José Martínez, opening the door for Tafari to start. Not only has Tafari proven himself a dependable center back, but the second-year defender has also contributed on the attacking side of things. With two assists already under his belt this season, Tafari scored his first FC Dallas goal last Saturday with a close-range finish against the Houston Dynamo. At 6-foot-4, Tafari is proving to be dangerous on set pieces.
Defender Nkosi Tafari “I like helping in any way I can. If the ball bounces to me in the box, I definitely expect myself to finish it—that’s just the standard I hold myself to. This (Houston) one was an easy one, hopefully I can score more high-end goals just for the banter of it. Overall, they all count the same so any goal I can score will help the team.”
