It took less than 15 minutes on the field for Christian Ramírez to score his first goal in Verde. That goal proved the difference in a match in which the hosts dominated but struggled to break through.
On a sunny Sunday afternoon at Q2 Stadium, Austin FC got a dramatic late-game goal from newcomer Christian Ramírez, scoring in just his 15th minute on the field in a Verde jersey, to dispatch D.C. United, 1-0.
Verde forced some corner kicks within the first six minutes of the game, with Ilie Sánchez getting a header and then a foot-while-lying-on-the-ground attempt, and then Guilherme Biro — back from his one-match stint in head coach Nico Estévez's doghouse — wresting a vintage-Sean-Johnson save from a now-more-fully-mature Sean Johnson with a header a minute later.
Former Verde player (and fan favorite) Jared Stroud got the match's first yellow card in the 12th minute for a suspect tackle on Facundo Torres.
Jon Gallagher had a nice bit of play worth mentioning in the 23rd minute, getting tripped by Keisuke Kurokawa while taking the ball out by the wing; he kept his balance (not earning the whistle) and moved toward goal, sending in a cross a little too hot for Myrto Uzuni, then whizzing to the far post, which was unfortunately not tracked by a Verde runner.
Referee Lorenzo Hernandez doled out a 29th-minute yellow card to Torres for reasons we don't quite understand. (This became our first PRO question of the year.) However, six minutes later, Dani Pereira coaxed a foul from João Peglow on a dribble through DCU's half of the field, leading to a free kick and a Brendan Hines-Ike attempt.
Halftime arrived with Verde leading the possession battle 61.5% to 38.5%, and with (per FotMob, which was more generous than MLSSoccer.com in its stats), a 9-4 shot and 5-2 shots on goal advantage, plus a 0.73 to 0.12 xG lead ... but with the score knotted at zero.
Our ardent hopes for a second yellow for Stroud were dashed when he was one of two halftime subs off for DCU coach René Weiler, who took Stroud and Hosei Kijima off in favor of Gabriel Pirani and Jackson Hopkins.
Torres nearly had himself a Verde legend moment in the 57th, ripping a shot from beyond the 18 requiring Johnson to stretch out and dive to save it, sending it just wide of the post. That again resulted in some corners and some excitement, but no goals.
In the 68th minute, Estévez made his first subs, getting Besard Šabović on for Sánchez, and newly-signed striker Ramírez on for Nelson.
Ramírez got involved right away in action in front of goal involving several Verde bicycle kicks — one, from Biro, ended up bloodying Svatok's face, but Svatok was able to continue on.
Joseph Rosales was wide open for a 75th-minute shot that sailed over the bar, leading to more collective frustration from the crowd. Estévez got CJ Fodrey on for Rosales two minutes after that attempt.
Finally, the breakthrough came in the 82nd minute, with Ramírez getting his head to a far-post ball that bounced up from a D.C. defender's foot following Šabović's attempt.
Verde held on after that, helping it along by bringing Jon Bell on for Torres to build up the back line.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Putting on the heat early with two possible goals off corner kicks in the first phase of the game was welcome, even if the goal didn't come.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
A 63rd-minute ill-advised pass from Pereira to Gallagher was picked off easily by a D.C. defender, ending several minutes of Verde domination and leading to several minutes of the ball staying in the Austin defense's half of the field.
One thing you might have missed
If you weren't watching on TV, you might not have heard Apple TV's best commentary team, Max Bretos and Brian Dunseth, relaying that they called the Houston match last night and drove to Austin to get to this match.
(No word on whether there was a Buc-ee's stop, which includes the absurdly tiny Buc-ee's in Giddings, in that it is regular-convenience-store-sized.)
One nerdy tidbit
It took 25 minutes (and four Verde shots before it) for DCU to register its first shot of the match. Conversely, Uzuni had six first-half touches. (He ended up with 14 on the game, three gathered in a stoppage-time beardown on goal gone awry.)
Where this fits into the season's narrative
That first win was tougher to get than perhaps expected, but it's in the books. Four points from the first two home matches, and fifth in the West (plus they're four for four in wins against DCU).
A question we have going into the press conference
I'm curious as to what level of prep Ramírez had to learn the Verde ways, or if Estévez just threw him out there to see what he could do.
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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On a sunny Sunday afternoon at Q2 Stadium, Austin FC got a dramatic late-game goal from newcomer Christian Ramírez, scoring in just his 15th minute on the field in a Verde jersey, to dispatch D.C. United, 1-0.
Verde forced some corner kicks within the first six minutes of the game, with Ilie Sánchez getting a header and then a foot-while-lying-on-the-ground attempt, and then Guilherme Biro — back from his one-match stint in head coach Nico Estévez's doghouse — wresting a vintage-Sean-Johnson save from a now-more-fully-mature Sean Johnson with a header a minute later.
Former Verde player (and fan favorite) Jared Stroud got the match's first yellow card in the 12th minute for a suspect tackle on Facundo Torres.
Jon Gallagher had a nice bit of play worth mentioning in the 23rd minute, getting tripped by Keisuke Kurokawa while taking the ball out by the wing; he kept his balance (not earning the whistle) and moved toward goal, sending in a cross a little too hot for Myrto Uzuni, then whizzing to the far post, which was unfortunately not tracked by a Verde runner.
Referee Lorenzo Hernandez doled out a 29th-minute yellow card to Torres for reasons we don't quite understand. (This became our first PRO question of the year.) However, six minutes later, Dani Pereira coaxed a foul from João Peglow on a dribble through DCU's half of the field, leading to a free kick and a Brendan Hines-Ike attempt.
Halftime arrived with Verde leading the possession battle 61.5% to 38.5%, and with (per FotMob, which was more generous than MLSSoccer.com in its stats), a 9-4 shot and 5-2 shots on goal advantage, plus a 0.73 to 0.12 xG lead ... but with the score knotted at zero.
Our ardent hopes for a second yellow for Stroud were dashed when he was one of two halftime subs off for DCU coach René Weiler, who took Stroud and Hosei Kijima off in favor of Gabriel Pirani and Jackson Hopkins.
Torres nearly had himself a Verde legend moment in the 57th, ripping a shot from beyond the 18 requiring Johnson to stretch out and dive to save it, sending it just wide of the post. That again resulted in some corners and some excitement, but no goals.
In the 68th minute, Estévez made his first subs, getting Besard Šabović on for Sánchez, and newly-signed striker Ramírez on for Nelson.
Ramírez got involved right away in action in front of goal involving several Verde bicycle kicks — one, from Biro, ended up bloodying Svatok's face, but Svatok was able to continue on.
Joseph Rosales was wide open for a 75th-minute shot that sailed over the bar, leading to more collective frustration from the crowd. Estévez got CJ Fodrey on for Rosales two minutes after that attempt.
Finally, the breakthrough came in the 82nd minute, with Ramírez getting his head to a far-post ball that bounced up from a D.C. defender's foot following Šabović's attempt.
Verde held on after that, helping it along by bringing Jon Bell on for Torres to build up the back line.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Putting on the heat early with two possible goals off corner kicks in the first phase of the game was welcome, even if the goal didn't come.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
A 63rd-minute ill-advised pass from Pereira to Gallagher was picked off easily by a D.C. defender, ending several minutes of Verde domination and leading to several minutes of the ball staying in the Austin defense's half of the field.
One thing you might have missed
If you weren't watching on TV, you might not have heard Apple TV's best commentary team, Max Bretos and Brian Dunseth, relaying that they called the Houston match last night and drove to Austin to get to this match.
(No word on whether there was a Buc-ee's stop, which includes the absurdly tiny Buc-ee's in Giddings, in that it is regular-convenience-store-sized.)
One nerdy tidbit
It took 25 minutes (and four Verde shots before it) for DCU to register its first shot of the match. Conversely, Uzuni had six first-half touches. (He ended up with 14 on the game, three gathered in a stoppage-time beardown on goal gone awry.)
Where this fits into the season's narrative
That first win was tougher to get than perhaps expected, but it's in the books. Four points from the first two home matches, and fifth in the West (plus they're four for four in wins against DCU).
A question we have going into the press conference
I'm curious as to what level of prep Ramírez had to learn the Verde ways, or if Estévez just threw him out there to see what he could do.
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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