At the Whistle: Austin FC 0, Colorado Rapids 1

Rafael Navarro had the kind of goal that Austin FC fans dreamed their new pair of attackers might score on Saturday night. Alas, for those fans, it was the only goal they saw all night, as the Colorado Rapids handed Verde their second straight loss at Q2 Stadium — a 1-0 outcome to mirror last week's loss to the Timbers.

Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez talked to media on Thursday about the last meeting between these two teams being "chaos," and that was on display in the early going, with both teams playing with frenetic energy yet missing some cohesion. That was attributable in large part to the debut of the UVB front line, with Myrto Uzuni joining Brandon Vázquez and Osman Bukari in the starting lineup — and giving some early, tantalizing, promising glimpses of what this offense might become.

Perhaps it will someday look like the more-familiar-with-each-other Rapids did in the 18th minute, when Đorđe Mihailović got enough time and space to send a well-weighted pass to Navarro, who chipped Brad Stuver and then had a rather impolite goal celebration in front of the Verde supporters.

In the 51st minute, after quite a bit of almost for Verde, it appeared Uzuni had won a penalty after Guilherme Biro found him bearing down on goal with a pass, and Chidozie Awaziem pulled Uzuni down near the penalty spot we thought he might be headed toward. However, Uzuni was fractionally offside, still leaving Verde questing for their first goal.

Several minutes later, Desler overextended going for a ball down his flank, and went down with what appeared to be a fairly significant hamstring injury, necessitating a sub-in for Jon Gallagher. (Shades of 2023?)

Diego Rubio appeared to earn a penalty kick in the 2nd minute of stoppage time (after some extensive video review that kept the match's outcome in suspense), but it was ruled against Verde, depriving Vázquez a chance to get his first goal of the season in the highest-percentage way possible.

Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)

Uzuni had several almost-goals in the first half. In the 20th minute, it was the result of Owen Wolff getting free in the box and getting a pass across the goalmouth that resulted in chaos and Uzuni nearly getting it past a scrambling Zack Steffen. In the 43rd, Verde looked especially cohesive, with Dani Pereira sending Mikkel Desler down the right flank with a pass; Desler crossed to Uzuni, who met it with a strong header that Steffen had to get up high to paw away. On review, it looked like Steffen tipped it into the crossbar, but the MLS statisticians saw it differently, as you'll see with the nerdy tidbit below.)

Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)

I'm tempted to say the Matthew McConaughey/Woody Harrelson (and friends) "spontaneous" Pantalones commercial right before the second half started? (To be fair, the people doing shots, captured on the Jumbotron, had more shots on target than Austin did in the first half. Hey-ooooo!)

Right after halftime, on a throw-in from Desler, Pereira collected the ball and ... led Navarro toward goal with a pass that was positively Kipp Keller-esque, nearly resulting in a second goal – fortunately for Austin, Navarro rushed his shot (and probably took it from too far out) and went just wide with it. Concerning.

Something you might have missed

In the 33rd minute, Biro probably should have gotten a yellow card for tussling with Cole Bassett in the interest of winning a 50/50 ball. Despite getting very hands-y with the Rapids midfielder, Biro not only avoided discipline, but was determined to have won possession. It was delightful.

How this match fits into the season’s narrative

It takes time for players to develop cohesion, and Uzuni accounted well for himself in his first start (plus being able to go 70 minutes bodes well for full 90s in his near future). But two straight losses and being on pace to score just 11 goals this season is worrisome. Vázquez being without a goal in 270 minutes of play is especially concerning.

One nerdy tidbit

Verde ended the first half with eight shots, and yet, for all the chaos and forward movement, only one shot on target. (They counted the 43rd-minute header as hitting the crossbar.)

A question we have heading into the press conference

Pereira had what was at times a baffling performance, and yet was the lone midfielder not subbed out. I'll be curious to know what Estévez saw in the performance that merited a full 90.

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