Verde didn't need a last-minute miracle delivered by Pollo, running out to a two-goal lead and keeping at least that margin throughout the second half despite a late PK.
Myrto Uzuni and Owen Wolff each scored in a second straight match, Osman Bukari finished off one of the most fun team goals in the team's five-year history, and Robert Taylor got his first goal in Verde for good measure, as Austin FC beat D.C. United 4-2 on Saturday night at Audi Field.
It didn't take long for Verde to get their first appreciable chance courtesy of a 3rd-minute corner kick from Owen Wolff — the first of two inside a half hour that came appreciably close to scoring — and they dominated possession in the early going. In the 14th minute, Diego Rubio hit a scorcher from about 25 yards out that just landed outside the post.
Then, Austin finally got the throughball it was looking for in the 22nd minute, with Brendan Hines-Ike threading a pass to Uzuni, who suddenly is looking like an in-form goal scorer.
Verde continued first-half dominance, with Uzuni drawing a foul just outside the 18 in the 38th minute, allowing Diego Rubio the chance at a free kick that, after much preparation from the D.C. defense, clanged into the wall, but resulted in a few additional chances ending with Rubio skying a shot into the south end seats. (Audi Field is only one of two stadia I know of — Goodison Park being the other — that has the press box and broadcast camera facing east instead of west.)
Then, D.C. got a goal less than three minutes after halftime in one of the most shameful defensive displays we've seen in a while, with Gabriel Pirani working the ball past Mikkel Desler (who bit on a juke move), passing to João Peglow, who put Oleksandr Svatok on skates to ruin the clean sheet bid.
Austin got back in control with a true team goal in the 60th minute, starting with a line-breaking Brad Stuver pass to Dani Pereira, who advanced the ball diagonally to Owen Wolff, who found a charging Pereira, who sent a diagonal pass into the box to Bukari for the finish.
Then, because chaos, Pirani answered with what looked like a goal two minutes later, with a relatively quiet (at that point) Christian Benteke serving as the pivot passer to free Pirani into the box, but he was deemed to be just offside. Shortly after the ruling, former Austin FC player Jared Stroud was subbed on.
Robert Taylor, who once again came on as a sub, scored at the start of 10 (!) minutes of stoppage time, but later in the yawing extra pointless gap of time, Benteke won a penalty after grappling with Svatok in the box and falling down, and then converted his penalty after making a stutter step that fooled Stuver.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Right before Wolff's goal, All-Star Guilherme Biro hit a shot from distance that tested Luis Barraza. (It's fun to say All-Star Guilherme Biro.)
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
The Owen Wolff delayed yellow card wasn't great, but Svatok giving up the penalty on Benteke was less great (but ultimately immaterial).
One thing you might have missed
I'm not going to say that Dani Pereira did a lot of midriff baring in this match, but he's definitely repping Calvin Klein via his underwear — a revelation unfolding between the first two goals.
One nerdy tidbit
Austin led possession at halftime by a sizable margin: 64.6% to 35.4%.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
This is the classic "bonus game," as Andrew Wiebe coined it — a winnable match against an opponent in the other conference — and by winning it, Verde ended the match 7th in the West. They haven't yet locked up a playoff spot — to be fair, no one has — but this gets them appreciably closer, and not that it matters playoff-wise, but they're also getting closer to evening up their negative goal differential.
Starting with the Atlanta draw that should have been a win, they're now 4-2-5 in their last 11 (for 17 of a possible 33 points).
This is also the most goals they've scored in a match all season!
A question we have heading into the press conference
There still seems to be one big defensive lapse a game, no matter how well Verde plays. It's worth asking Nico Estévez his thoughts on that.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez indicated this is a team that can learn from losing. They'll have a few days to do that prior to what could be their final match of the season.
Myrto Uzuni and Owen Wolff each scored in a second straight match, Osman Bukari finished off one of the most fun team goals in the team's five-year history, and Robert Taylor got his first goal in Verde for good measure, as Austin FC beat D.C. United 4-2 on Saturday night at Audi Field.
It didn't take long for Verde to get their first appreciable chance courtesy of a 3rd-minute corner kick from Owen Wolff — the first of two inside a half hour that came appreciably close to scoring — and they dominated possession in the early going. In the 14th minute, Diego Rubio hit a scorcher from about 25 yards out that just landed outside the post.
Then, Austin finally got the throughball it was looking for in the 22nd minute, with Brendan Hines-Ike threading a pass to Uzuni, who suddenly is looking like an in-form goal scorer.
Verde continued first-half dominance, with Uzuni drawing a foul just outside the 18 in the 38th minute, allowing Diego Rubio the chance at a free kick that, after much preparation from the D.C. defense, clanged into the wall, but resulted in a few additional chances ending with Rubio skying a shot into the south end seats. (Audi Field is only one of two stadia I know of — Goodison Park being the other — that has the press box and broadcast camera facing east instead of west.)
Then, D.C. got a goal less than three minutes after halftime in one of the most shameful defensive displays we've seen in a while, with Gabriel Pirani working the ball past Mikkel Desler (who bit on a juke move), passing to João Peglow, who put Oleksandr Svatok on skates to ruin the clean sheet bid.
Austin got back in control with a true team goal in the 60th minute, starting with a line-breaking Brad Stuver pass to Dani Pereira, who advanced the ball diagonally to Owen Wolff, who found a charging Pereira, who sent a diagonal pass into the box to Bukari for the finish.
Then, because chaos, Pirani answered with what looked like a goal two minutes later, with a relatively quiet (at that point) Christian Benteke serving as the pivot passer to free Pirani into the box, but he was deemed to be just offside. Shortly after the ruling, former Austin FC player Jared Stroud was subbed on.
Robert Taylor, who once again came on as a sub, scored at the start of 10 (!) minutes of stoppage time, but later in the yawing extra pointless gap of time, Benteke won a penalty after grappling with Svatok in the box and falling down, and then converted his penalty after making a stutter step that fooled Stuver.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Right before Wolff's goal, All-Star Guilherme Biro hit a shot from distance that tested Luis Barraza. (It's fun to say All-Star Guilherme Biro.)
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
The Owen Wolff delayed yellow card wasn't great, but Svatok giving up the penalty on Benteke was less great (but ultimately immaterial).
One thing you might have missed
I'm not going to say that Dani Pereira did a lot of midriff baring in this match, but he's definitely repping Calvin Klein via his underwear — a revelation unfolding between the first two goals.
One nerdy tidbit
Austin led possession at halftime by a sizable margin: 64.6% to 35.4%.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
This is the classic "bonus game," as Andrew Wiebe coined it — a winnable match against an opponent in the other conference — and by winning it, Verde ended the match 7th in the West. They haven't yet locked up a playoff spot — to be fair, no one has — but this gets them appreciably closer, and not that it matters playoff-wise, but they're also getting closer to evening up their negative goal differential.
Starting with the Atlanta draw that should have been a win, they're now 4-2-5 in their last 11 (for 17 of a possible 33 points).
This is also the most goals they've scored in a match all season!
A question we have heading into the press conference
There still seems to be one big defensive lapse a game, no matter how well Verde plays. It's worth asking Nico Estévez his thoughts on that.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
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