Petar Musa scored twice on Saturday night, with his late goals securing a 3-0 victory for FC Dallas against San Jose Earthquakes. This took him to 22 goals for the season, leaving him three behind leading scorer Lionel Messi of Inter Miami.
With ten minutes remaining at Toyota Stadium, the score was 0-0. In the 83rd minute, Musa received the ball from Bernard Kamungu on the edge of the box, set himself and struck a precise shot into the top corner to take the lead. Just five minutes later, he was a cool penalty taker for 2-0, before Santiago Moreno made it 3-0 with a goal in stoppage time.
Musa has thus become only the second player, alongside Messi, to score two or more goals in six matches this season. He has reached a total of 56 goals in MLS, tying Raúl Díaz Arce for third place on the list of top scorers in his first three seasons in the league, who achieved the same feat between 1996 and 1998.
FC Dallas set a new club record for goals in a single season with 56. Manager Quill did not hide his satisfaction with Musa’s form after the match. "I knew that first goal, when he finds himself in that position, would be perfect. We just have to find him in those key areas. I watch him every day in training and am amazed by his play. He has world-class finishing, it is incredible to watch," Quill said.
He added that opponents pay particular attention to Musa. "Teammates are constantly looking for him, while opponents are focused exclusively on him. It is fascinating that despite so much attention, he still manages to do what he does," the Dallas manager said.
With this win, Dallas returned to second place in the Western Conference with 54 points. The club has already secured a playoff spot and trails leaders Vancouver Whitecaps by just one point. There are three matches left in the regular season. On Wednesday, Dallas host Columbus Crew, and the regular season concludes with matches against Sporting Kansas City and Colorado Rapids.
