An own goal followed by a Myrto Uzuni goal led to a memorable PK sequence in an unusually unhabitable North End of Q2 Stadium. That gives Verde a second opportunity in as many years to win a cup competition.
At an unusual Q2 Stadium match in which Austin FC were the visitors — both per Leagues Cup's official designation and with Verde fans outnumbered by yellow-clad Club América fans — the normally-hosts gave up an unfortunate own goal shortly after a scoreless first half, equalized on a Myrto Uzuni goal, and then bested the Liga MX voyagers, 1(6)-1(5), after going a perfect six-for-six in their shootout.
With the result, Austin FC advances to the quarterfinals in the 2026 edition of the tournament — just three wins (with PK wins possible in there) from a trophy.
Verde — or should we call them Violet for this one? — rolled out in a 5-3-2 formation, again deploying the inverted wingback look with Joseph Rosales and the right and Jon Gallagher on the left, flanking a Guilherme Biro-Oleksandr Svatok-Mateja Đorđević center back trio.
It took less than four minutes for Violet to force its first yellow card, with Myrto Uzuni progressing the ball and coaxing Alan Cervantes into a foul meriting more than just a whistle.
Violet's defense held tough early, weathering various shots that weren't on target, though Isaías Violante's 13th-minute shot had some sizzle on it — coming after a sequence in which multiple Austin FC players displayed some sauce with their on-ball skills.
The first shot on target came when Rosales got sprung forward on the left flank, putting in a shot that didn't particularly trouble Rodolfo Cota, but showed that there was space for Violet in the final third.
Goalkeeper Brad Stuver then had to be activated, taking a dangerous ball off Brian Rodriguez's foot as he made a dangerous move into the box, and then scooped up Alejandro Cárdenas' on-target header before it crossed the line.
Uzuni engineered a 30th-minute chance by getting onto a Gallagher cross in a good in-box position, but his header popped up gamely to allow Cota another routine save.
While neither team seriously threatened heading into the half, Brandon Vázquez had a semi-credible appeal for a penalty in stoppage time, catching an inadvertent elbow to the face as a ball got sent into Vázquez's part of the box.
Three minutes after halftime, Violet let in a fluky goal, with América's Kevin Álvarez sending a cross in that Gallagher attempted to block. He got a piece of the ball with his heel, which then sent it just inside the far post past Stuver.
That led to a period of decided momentum shift for América (see Worst Verde Moment), but then Violet showed some life subbing on Besard Šabović for Facundo Torres, followed by Gallagher winning a free kick a minute later with a run deep into América territory drawing an Érick Sánchez yellow card, and then a Rosales free kick testing Cota.
Then, in the 67th, Ervin Torres sent a pass into Vázquez that Cota blocked, but right to an open and still-red-hot Uzuni, who launched the ball past Cota emphatically.
That got the stadium newly energized and the chaos meter ratcheted up, with Sebastian Cáceres missing on a point-blank header at one end a moment after that, followed by Uzuni going wide with his first attempt at a brace.
Christian Ramírez spelled Vázquez, and América threw numbers forward and more subs on to try to tip the scales for a go-ahead goal.
Ramírez very nearly got the go-ahead goal for Violet in the 83rd, with Ervin Torres sending in a ball that Ramírez got to but couldn't cleanly strike.
Violet proceeded through the ugliness — including increasingly audible instances of the homophobic chant that continues to sully Mexican soccer fandom — with fresh legs including Jorge Alastuey (who came on for VerDos running partner Ervin Torres) and Brendan Hines-Ike (relieving Biro).
Violet saw out the draw, meaning penalty kicks in the North End, which was the de facto América end of the stadium in this bizarro world version of Q2.
In the PK sequence, Rosales, Šabović, Ramírez, Uzuni, and Alastuey all made theirs, matched by América's five takes. In the sixth round, Ilie made the smart choice on his shot (sorry, couldn't resist), and Stuver saved Cristián Borja's attempt to close out the drama.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Check out that stretch around the 12th minute on the replay. It's a really nice little slice of soccer.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
Shortly after the own goal, Ervin Torres committed a foul just outside the box that possibly saved a goal (or at least an attempt on goal), but led to a very nervy free kick, leading to a few minutes of decided momentum shift.
Also, though, it was hard to watch Cáceres getting outmuscled and outdueled by Vázquez — an indication that Vázquez, for all the praise he's been earning from interim head coach Davy Arnaud for his hold-up play, is not yet 100% the player he was prior to last year's injury.
One thing you might have missed
Right around the half-hour mark, Violante ushered Biro out of bounds and put in a fairly forceful arm motion that missed Biro — had it connected, it might have been enough for a red card. Instead, it merely won him a consultation with the referee.
One nerdy tidbit
Per MLS, the teams each headed into the half with xG values of just 0.3, even though the match felt like it had more in it in the first 45. (The jumbotron actually had it as a 0.3-0.27 advantage for Austin.)
Where this fits into the season's narrative
Regardless of how the knockout rounds go, getting to this echelon provides a boost for fans and perhaps gives the team a boost in its remaining 16 MLS regular season matches — starting Sunday at a more friendly (and once again violet-tinted) Q2 Stadium.
A question we have heading into the press conference
How did the squad prepare for the inevitability of penalty kicks?
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
Club América has looked formidable in its first two Leagues Cup matches — if you're just looking at the scoreline. However, there are some cracks if you dig in further, and that could benefit Austin FC on Thursday night.
Confused about what needs to happen for Austin FC to get into the 2026 Leagues Cup knockout rounds? You're not alone. Let us try to break it down for you.
Winning 3-0 and setting up a marquee match to get to the final eight of a tournament are positives Austin FC can take away from Sunday's match. But Davy Arnaud thinks there's still work to be done with his new style of play.
Austin FC played a complete match against Puebla on Sunday, getting a hat trick from Myrto Uzuni and securing a shutout. While the knockout round is now a distinct possibility, Club América awaits for Thursday's huge match.
At an unusual Q2 Stadium match in which Austin FC were the visitors — both per Leagues Cup's official designation and with Verde fans outnumbered by yellow-clad Club América fans — the normally-hosts gave up an unfortunate own goal shortly after a scoreless first half, equalized on a Myrto Uzuni goal, and then bested the Liga MX voyagers, 1(6)-1(5), after going a perfect six-for-six in their shootout.
With the result, Austin FC advances to the quarterfinals in the 2026 edition of the tournament — just three wins (with PK wins possible in there) from a trophy.
Verde — or should we call them Violet for this one? — rolled out in a 5-3-2 formation, again deploying the inverted wingback look with Joseph Rosales and the right and Jon Gallagher on the left, flanking a Guilherme Biro-Oleksandr Svatok-Mateja Đorđević center back trio.
It took less than four minutes for Violet to force its first yellow card, with Myrto Uzuni progressing the ball and coaxing Alan Cervantes into a foul meriting more than just a whistle.
Violet's defense held tough early, weathering various shots that weren't on target, though Isaías Violante's 13th-minute shot had some sizzle on it — coming after a sequence in which multiple Austin FC players displayed some sauce with their on-ball skills.
The first shot on target came when Rosales got sprung forward on the left flank, putting in a shot that didn't particularly trouble Rodolfo Cota, but showed that there was space for Violet in the final third.
Goalkeeper Brad Stuver then had to be activated, taking a dangerous ball off Brian Rodriguez's foot as he made a dangerous move into the box, and then scooped up Alejandro Cárdenas' on-target header before it crossed the line.
Uzuni engineered a 30th-minute chance by getting onto a Gallagher cross in a good in-box position, but his header popped up gamely to allow Cota another routine save.
While neither team seriously threatened heading into the half, Brandon Vázquez had a semi-credible appeal for a penalty in stoppage time, catching an inadvertent elbow to the face as a ball got sent into Vázquez's part of the box.
Three minutes after halftime, Violet let in a fluky goal, with América's Kevin Álvarez sending a cross in that Gallagher attempted to block. He got a piece of the ball with his heel, which then sent it just inside the far post past Stuver.
That led to a period of decided momentum shift for América (see Worst Verde Moment), but then Violet showed some life subbing on Besard Šabović for Facundo Torres, followed by Gallagher winning a free kick a minute later with a run deep into América territory drawing an Érick Sánchez yellow card, and then a Rosales free kick testing Cota.
Then, in the 67th, Ervin Torres sent a pass into Vázquez that Cota blocked, but right to an open and still-red-hot Uzuni, who launched the ball past Cota emphatically.
That got the stadium newly energized and the chaos meter ratcheted up, with Sebastian Cáceres missing on a point-blank header at one end a moment after that, followed by Uzuni going wide with his first attempt at a brace.
Christian Ramírez spelled Vázquez, and América threw numbers forward and more subs on to try to tip the scales for a go-ahead goal.
Ramírez very nearly got the go-ahead goal for Violet in the 83rd, with Ervin Torres sending in a ball that Ramírez got to but couldn't cleanly strike.
Violet proceeded through the ugliness — including increasingly audible instances of the homophobic chant that continues to sully Mexican soccer fandom — with fresh legs including Jorge Alastuey (who came on for VerDos running partner Ervin Torres) and Brendan Hines-Ike (relieving Biro).
Violet saw out the draw, meaning penalty kicks in the North End, which was the de facto América end of the stadium in this bizarro world version of Q2.
In the PK sequence, Rosales, Šabović, Ramírez, Uzuni, and Alastuey all made theirs, matched by América's five takes. In the sixth round, Ilie made the smart choice on his shot (sorry, couldn't resist), and Stuver saved Cristián Borja's attempt to close out the drama.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Check out that stretch around the 12th minute on the replay. It's a really nice little slice of soccer.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
Shortly after the own goal, Ervin Torres committed a foul just outside the box that possibly saved a goal (or at least an attempt on goal), but led to a very nervy free kick, leading to a few minutes of decided momentum shift.
Also, though, it was hard to watch Cáceres getting outmuscled and outdueled by Vázquez — an indication that Vázquez, for all the praise he's been earning from interim head coach Davy Arnaud for his hold-up play, is not yet 100% the player he was prior to last year's injury.
One thing you might have missed
Right around the half-hour mark, Violante ushered Biro out of bounds and put in a fairly forceful arm motion that missed Biro — had it connected, it might have been enough for a red card. Instead, it merely won him a consultation with the referee.
One nerdy tidbit
Per MLS, the teams each headed into the half with xG values of just 0.3, even though the match felt like it had more in it in the first 45. (The jumbotron actually had it as a 0.3-0.27 advantage for Austin.)
Where this fits into the season's narrative
Regardless of how the knockout rounds go, getting to this echelon provides a boost for fans and perhaps gives the team a boost in its remaining 16 MLS regular season matches — starting Sunday at a more friendly (and once again violet-tinted) Q2 Stadium.
A question we have heading into the press conference
How did the squad prepare for the inevitability of penalty kicks?
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
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