It was an unusual match on Saturday night to be sure, as Austin FC said goodbye and good riddance to 2024. For starters, two probable starters — Dani Pereira and Guilherme Biro — were unavailable for selection due to disciplinary issues. A third, Osman Bukari was a surprising scratch — as he was a continent away in Ghana with his newborn son.
And then again, it was a usual match per the 2024 narrative, in that some goal chances Verde created were left wanting, and in the later stages of the match — as we’d seen in some 2024 performances — the Verde defense made a critical error that changed the scoreline for the worse.
But as those of you at Q2 Stadium can attest, the two stoppage-time goals from Ethan Finlay and Brendan Hines-Ike, and Austin FC’s subsequent 3-2 win on Saturday night over the Colorado Rapids, was an electrifying comeback rivaling Verde’s best Magical Season comeback moments: The Pollo-fueled miracle in D.C., the Moussa Djitte hat trick to seal the team’s only playoff berth to date, and the playoff win over Real Salt Lake that ended with a skied penalty dropping gloriously into the supporters’ section to advance the hosts into the next round of the playoffs.
For interim head coach Davy Arnaud, the performance exhibited the same sort of grit and grind from players that Josh Wolff had touted in his final months at the helm of Austin FC.
“Super proud of the performance and the response of our guys,” he said. “They showed real character and heart, as they have shown all year. I challenged the group before the game started, said, ‘Look, even though there's nothing really on the line for this game, whether you have something on the line or not, the effort and the commitment and the drive to compete and win and battle for your teammates, all that stuff is not conditional on you getting an outcome that you want.’
“Because the outcome that we wanted was obviously to be playing again and playing another game in the playoffs,” he added. “We can't be conditional. That has to be there regardless. And those guys showed that in a big way tonight, and especially in the second half.”
