Austin FC did well to come back from a deficit to draw FC Dallas, but were left wanting more.
U.S. Men's National Team fullback Shaq Moore scored at Q2 Stadium wearing red, white, and blue on Saturday night — but as it was the Toros' version of the colors rather than the Yanks' — only a small pocket of FC Dallas cheered the match's opening goal, coming toward the end of a first half dominated by Austin FC.
But then Owen Wolff equalized and Verde anticipated a second goal that didn't come, leaving the teams to split the points with a 1-1 draw and gifting the 2025 Copa Tejas trophy to Houston Dynamo FC — who, in fine Copa Tejas tradition, wasn't on the field when it was officially decided.
After a fairly underwhelming first 15 minutes, Sebastian Lletget had the first moment of danger shortly after, fizzing a pass across goal that a runner making a far post run would have gotten onto. A moment later, Wolff earned a foul at the edge of the box, which Diego Rubio sent just wide.
Rubio also distinguished himself getting a yellow card in the 24th minute, goading FDC midfielder Chris Cappis into a yellow, for the first cautions from Armando Villarreal, who would end up keeping the whistle in his pocket during a few key moments in the match.
In the 26th minute, Verde dodged a bullet when Guilherme Biro appeared to commit a handball foul in the box — with Dallas players' reactions impending their defensive movement, allowing Osman Bukari to hilariously get out on a break and send in a cross that was snuffed out — and despite looking like it was PK-worthy, it blessedly wasn't given. (Perhaps that was a gift from PRO after last week's penalty call that maybe shouldn't have been called, albeit at Dallas' expense.)
Then, after some promising moments from Austin — including Owen Wolff displaying some Bukari-like ball mastery in Bukari's preferred part of the field, followed by a Biro shot from distance that struck the top of the bar — Dallas struck in the 37th.
Petar Musa set up Shaq Moore for the goal with a pass toe-poked to the outside, getting him open against Verde's suddenly disorganized defense, and that score stood going into halftime.
Anderson Julio came on for Musa to start the second half, and within two minutes of the restart, Moore had another run at goal, getting a close-in shot that was wide-open but well off target.
But then, in the 51st, Wolff got his third goal of the season and first ever in Q2 stadium, with Bukari getting the ball deep in on the right side, passing back to Mikkel Desler, lofting a rainbow pass in front of goal that Wolff headed in.
Just after the hour mark, Bukari got loose down the right side, and Verde nemesis Lalas Abubakar, one-on-one against him, appeared to make contact, yet that didn't attract attention from either Villarreal or the VAR crew in VARlington that stepped into the decision-making process last week.
Bukari had another chance in the 72nd, hitting the side netting with his shot.
FC Dallas answered the looming Verde threats by putting in two midfielders who like using mononyms — Kaick and Deedson.
Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez chose the 76th minute, following a hydration break, to bring in Jon Gallagher and Jáder Obrian to replace Wolff and Desler as his first subs of the night.
Obrian led an 84th-minute two-on-two break, in his first significant action, getting a pass to a quiet-on-the-night Myrto Uzuni, who couldn't quite handle the initial pass, went back to get it, got barreled over by Osaze Urhoghide, and stayed down slapping the turf in frustration when he didn't get the penalty.
Despite six minutes of extra time given, and with CJ Fodrey on as an additional sub, Verde couldn't get the needed second goal to get the win, despite a break in the final minute that ended with a weak rolling Fodrey shot from distance, and then a last-gasp free kick earned by Besard Šabović that Brad Stuver sent from midfield to no avail.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Seriously, go back and watch Wolff and then Biro almost score in the 34th minute. Pretty great display of prowess (that sadly didn't result in a goal).
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
The execution on the best chance in stoppage time showed why Fodrey doesn't get a lot of minutes and that he's still needing to develop better decision-making skills.
One thing you might have missed
Well, thanks to the MLS Season Pass broadcast, got to confirm that was quite the stiff-brimmed hat that Eric Quill was wearing!
One nerdy tidbit
Twenty-one minutes into the match, Austin FC had a 78%-22% possession advantage.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
The good news is Austin now only has one loss in its last eight matches. And yet, this is the third disappointing draw in this stretch — this was a Dallas team, on this night, that a lot of the league's teams would have been able to put up two goals against.
A question we have heading into the press conference
We're curious about the late subs and the lack of subs.
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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Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez talked about wanting to win versus what his team actually did on Saturday. We have some troubling data points bulleted for your consideration.
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U.S. Men's National Team fullback Shaq Moore scored at Q2 Stadium wearing red, white, and blue on Saturday night — but as it was the Toros' version of the colors rather than the Yanks' — only a small pocket of FC Dallas cheered the match's opening goal, coming toward the end of a first half dominated by Austin FC.
But then Owen Wolff equalized and Verde anticipated a second goal that didn't come, leaving the teams to split the points with a 1-1 draw and gifting the 2025 Copa Tejas trophy to Houston Dynamo FC — who, in fine Copa Tejas tradition, wasn't on the field when it was officially decided.
After a fairly underwhelming first 15 minutes, Sebastian Lletget had the first moment of danger shortly after, fizzing a pass across goal that a runner making a far post run would have gotten onto. A moment later, Wolff earned a foul at the edge of the box, which Diego Rubio sent just wide.
Rubio also distinguished himself getting a yellow card in the 24th minute, goading FDC midfielder Chris Cappis into a yellow, for the first cautions from Armando Villarreal, who would end up keeping the whistle in his pocket during a few key moments in the match.
In the 26th minute, Verde dodged a bullet when Guilherme Biro appeared to commit a handball foul in the box — with Dallas players' reactions impending their defensive movement, allowing Osman Bukari to hilariously get out on a break and send in a cross that was snuffed out — and despite looking like it was PK-worthy, it blessedly wasn't given. (Perhaps that was a gift from PRO after last week's penalty call that maybe shouldn't have been called, albeit at Dallas' expense.)
Then, after some promising moments from Austin — including Owen Wolff displaying some Bukari-like ball mastery in Bukari's preferred part of the field, followed by a Biro shot from distance that struck the top of the bar — Dallas struck in the 37th.
Petar Musa set up Shaq Moore for the goal with a pass toe-poked to the outside, getting him open against Verde's suddenly disorganized defense, and that score stood going into halftime.
Anderson Julio came on for Musa to start the second half, and within two minutes of the restart, Moore had another run at goal, getting a close-in shot that was wide-open but well off target.
But then, in the 51st, Wolff got his third goal of the season and first ever in Q2 stadium, with Bukari getting the ball deep in on the right side, passing back to Mikkel Desler, lofting a rainbow pass in front of goal that Wolff headed in.
Just after the hour mark, Bukari got loose down the right side, and Verde nemesis Lalas Abubakar, one-on-one against him, appeared to make contact, yet that didn't attract attention from either Villarreal or the VAR crew in VARlington that stepped into the decision-making process last week.
Bukari had another chance in the 72nd, hitting the side netting with his shot.
FC Dallas answered the looming Verde threats by putting in two midfielders who like using mononyms — Kaick and Deedson.
Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez chose the 76th minute, following a hydration break, to bring in Jon Gallagher and Jáder Obrian to replace Wolff and Desler as his first subs of the night.
Obrian led an 84th-minute two-on-two break, in his first significant action, getting a pass to a quiet-on-the-night Myrto Uzuni, who couldn't quite handle the initial pass, went back to get it, got barreled over by Osaze Urhoghide, and stayed down slapping the turf in frustration when he didn't get the penalty.
Despite six minutes of extra time given, and with CJ Fodrey on as an additional sub, Verde couldn't get the needed second goal to get the win, despite a break in the final minute that ended with a weak rolling Fodrey shot from distance, and then a last-gasp free kick earned by Besard Šabović that Brad Stuver sent from midfield to no avail.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Seriously, go back and watch Wolff and then Biro almost score in the 34th minute. Pretty great display of prowess (that sadly didn't result in a goal).
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
The execution on the best chance in stoppage time showed why Fodrey doesn't get a lot of minutes and that he's still needing to develop better decision-making skills.
One thing you might have missed
Well, thanks to the MLS Season Pass broadcast, got to confirm that was quite the stiff-brimmed hat that Eric Quill was wearing!
One nerdy tidbit
Twenty-one minutes into the match, Austin FC had a 78%-22% possession advantage.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
The good news is Austin now only has one loss in its last eight matches. And yet, this is the third disappointing draw in this stretch — this was a Dallas team, on this night, that a lot of the league's teams would have been able to put up two goals against.
A question we have heading into the press conference
We're curious about the late subs and the lack of subs.
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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