Petar Musa’s late double lifts FC Dallas to 3-0 win over San Jose, tightening MLS Golden Boot race

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Petar Musa scored a late brace as FC Dallas surged to a pivotal 3-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night at Toyota Stadium, a result that tightened both the club’s playoff momentum and the league’s MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi race. With the win, Dallas moved back into second place in the Western Conference while maintaining pressure near the top of the standings, sitting just one point behind Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

The Croatian international’s two-goal burst came after Dallas remained scoreless entering the final ten minutes. Musa needed one opportunity in the 83rd minute to change the match, receiving a pass from Bernard Kamungo inside the penalty arc at the top of the box before opening his hips and curling a shot into the top corner. Five minutes later, he added a second goal by converting a penalty to complete his double and put the result beyond doubt.

Musa’s performance also reshaped the Golden Boot race. According to MLS, Musa has 22 goals and drew within three goals of Lionel Messi, who led the standings with 25 goals, leaving three matches remaining in the regular season. The same league note highlighted that Musa and Messi are the only players with six multi-goal matches this season.

FC Dallas head coach Eric Quill described Saturday’s performance as their most complete of the year, crediting both execution and contributions from multiple players. Speaking to MLS 360 on Apple TV, Quill said, “Tonight was, I thought, maybe arguably our best performance of the year. I just thought in every aspect of the game, every phase, we were awesome.”

Quill also pointed to the team’s overall approach from start to finish, tying the performance to their postseason push. “The contributions of everybody that came in the game was outstanding. Our mentality from start to finish was championship-like, playoff-bound. I thought we just played beautifully and I thought we were fun to watch. We played hard, played honest, and we deserve what we got tonight for sure,” Quill said.

In his comments on Musa’s finishing, Quill described the striker’s ability to find and exploit important pockets of space. Quill said, “I knew the first goal where he gets involved in a place like that, I mean, it's 10 out of 10. We just need to find them in those important pockets of space.” He added that he watches Musa’s finishing closely in training and characterized him as a “world-class finisher,” saying, “Guys are always looking for him. Other teams are really focusing in on him. But for him to keep doing what he's doing, given the focus and attention on him, it's pretty amazing.”

Beyond the goals, the match also reflected the timing of the decisive offense. Even after Musa’s first strike in the 83rd minute, Dallas did not leave the outcome entirely to chance—adding a stoppage-time finish from Santiago Moreno to secure the 3-0 scoreline and complete the crucial result in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs race.

For Dallas, the Saturday win preserved its positioning in the Western Conference race. With their postseason berth already booked, the club is now focused on strengthening its conference standing heading into the end of the regular season. As noted in the league report, Dallas remains one point behind Vancouver Whitecaps FC for the top spot in the Western Conference.

Musa and FC Dallas will continue their playoff push with their next match against the Columbus Crew on Wednesday night, with kickoff listed at 8:30 pm ET and shown on Apple TV. The regular season will then conclude with Dallas hosting or facing Sporting Kansas City and the Colorado Rapids in the closing stretch, as outlined by MLS.