At the Whistle: Austin FC 3, Seattle Sounders FC 1
Austin FC jumped out to an early lead on Wednesday and then let in a goal on a defensive lapse. But the true difference maker in the eventual win was a teenager subbed on late.
Returning to Q2 Stadium for the first time in more than two months, Austin FC got an early set piece goal from Ilie Sánchez, let in an equalizer scored in a characteristically opportunistic way by Paul Rothrock, and then found late goals from Myrto Uzuni and Christian Ramírez (with a surprising player on both the assists), beating Seattle Sounders FC, 3-1, to resume the 2026 MLS regular season on a hot and stifling Wednesday night at Q2 Stadium.
The last time Verde played in this stadium, they lost 2-1 to Sporting Kansas City in a franchise-defining loss; the club responded to that performance and the poor ones preceding that by dismissing head coach Nico Estévez and sporting director Rodolfo Borrell.
Under interim head coach Davy Arnaud — getting to showcase what tactics he was able to implement during a midseason break — Verde came out in what at first looked like a distinct 4-3-3 formation, with Brandon Vázquez, Myrto Uzuni, and Facundo Torres all effectively parallel.
Joseph Rosales was deployed as a right back to start the match, while Jon Gallagher started as what eventually revealed itself to be a left wingback in a 5-2-3, though he played the first phase of the game so high up the field that he looked like a left winger in a 4-3-3.
The Sounders, meanwhile, made the best of its compromised-by-injury lineup choices, going with a roster that included Verde Enemy No. 1 Jesus Ferreira and folk hero Paul Rothrock.
Verde made good on its first chance in the 11th, winning a corner kick when Rosales sent in a diagonal cross from the right flank that Sounders defender Peter Kingston headed out just past the far post. Then, on the resulting corner, Besard Šabović sent in a curler that Ilie Sánchez was able to get his head to, redirecting it enough to get past Sounders goalkeeper Andrew Thomas for the early lead.
Five minutes later, Uzuni nearly got Austin's second, getting onto an errant Thomas pass and just overhitting an attempted chip from beyond the 18.
Despite Verde looking dominant, the dreaded costly defensive lapse came in the 26th minute, with Sounders players assembling around the box, Snyder Brunell charging into the right channel to hit a Kingston cutback pass off the post – which caromed to Rothrock, lurking behind Rosales with plenty of space to run onto the rebound unchallenged.
Austin FC next looked threatening in the 34th minute, getting numbers in the Sounders box for a Vázquez shot Thomas repelled, and then after the Sounders momentarily wrested control, Verde got it back for Uzuni to flub a first-touch chance but got a second chance at goal, forcing Thomas to collect.
In the second half, the Sounders started to increase its momentum and possession, prompting a triple sub just after the hour mark to get Przemysław Płacheta and Owen Wolff on for Šabović and Rosales to get some more offensive spark (and to deal with the yellow card that Šabović earned moments before), and then Mateja Đorđević to spell Brendan Hines-Ike, who we learned Monday wouldn't be 90-minutes-ready heading into this one.
Verde created a decent chance in the 69th, with Torres sending over a cross that Vázquez headed toward goal, though Thomas was able to deal with it easily. Less impressive was a 73rd minute free kick, which Torres landed in a dangerous but unoccupied area; Uzuni got to it first, and with a narrow angle at goal but a pathway to draw defenders and perhaps get a cross back in, he instead it hoofed it out of bounds to kill off the chance.
In the 80th minute, the Sounders worked the ball in front of goal, with Ferreira making an unselfish pass to an open Albert Rusnak, who hit a dangerous top-bins shot that Brad Stuver got fingertips to, keeping Austin from going down.
Then, after some shots from Płacheta and Jon Gallagher went wanting, Arnaud made a Torres-for-Torres sub (with Ervin coming on for Facundo), and a Superman-for-Superman sub (with Ramírez on for Vázquez).
That paid dividends almost immediately; in the 86th, Verde had one of its best in-the-box sequences of the match, with the younger Torres feeding Uzuni for the go-ahead goal.
Then, to seal the deal, Torres got his second assist in the first minute of stoppage time, finding Ramírez in front of goal with a pinpoint pass; Ramírez then contorted his body to get a bit more power behind the shot, which had enough on it to nestle inside the far post.
Uzuni had a chance for a breakaway goal deep into stoppage time, but Jackson Ragen saved it with a foul earning him a second yellow card and a sendoff.
Stuver's save on Rusnak's 80th-minute shot preserved the draw.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
Verde All Day photographer Alex Rubio captured it well. This shot from Brunell led to the goal, but for a moment, the outcome is suspended in the ether of possibility, with Stuver unsure if it will go in, sail harmlessly wide, or carom off the post to an unmarked Rothrock just waiting to score. Joseph Rosales watches right along with it, seemingly having it not occur to him to slide over closer to Rothrock.
If you remember Jim Curtin's discussion of the red zone from his introductory press conference, he described it as the area of the field where, if you connect the six-yard box to the top of the 18, that's where 87% of goals are scored in MLS."
He then said, "We are going to defend that with our lives. You'll see it painted on all our training grounds now on the field, where that red zone is something that we protect and defend with our lives."
That did not happen on this play.
One thing you might have missed
The seemingly mild-mannered Brian Schmetzer got a yellow card from his spot in the technical area in the 41st minute.
One nerdy tidbit
I'm going to lean on Futi a lot in the second half of this season, I can tell. Here's an interesting end-of-match graphic. Aside from the "deserved win" meter, which went even after being decidedly on the Sounders' side for a good portion of the match, look at the transition xG. (Austin's in green.)
Where this fits into the season's narrative
With the win, Verde stopped a four-match winless streak that dates back to May; their previous win was May 2 over
A question we have heading into the press conference
I'm curious to know what Arnaud sought to implement in the midseason break — was it was how the wingbacks were deployed? — and how successful he felt that was.
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.
The Sounders, coming to Austin on Wednesday night, are coming off a 5-1 loss to their Portland rivals. That's putting the squad in a similar existential crisis to the one Verde faced in May.
Austin FC interim head coach Davy Arnaud is proud of what the team has been able to absorb during the World Cup break. They'll get to showcase that with a mostly healthy lineup on Wednesday against the Sounders.
Now that the World Cup is over, our attention turns fully back to Austin FC. Here's what's on the docket over the next two weeks heading into Leagues Cup.
If you missed the third-place game yesterday, you missed 10 goals. Spain and Argentina likely won't have that many when they face off at today's final.
Returning to Q2 Stadium for the first time in more than two months, Austin FC got an early set piece goal from Ilie Sánchez, let in an equalizer scored in a characteristically opportunistic way by Paul Rothrock, and then found late goals from Myrto Uzuni and Christian Ramírez (with a surprising player on both the assists), beating Seattle Sounders FC, 3-1, to resume the 2026 MLS regular season on a hot and stifling Wednesday night at Q2 Stadium.
The last time Verde played in this stadium, they lost 2-1 to Sporting Kansas City in a franchise-defining loss; the club responded to that performance and the poor ones preceding that by dismissing head coach Nico Estévez and sporting director Rodolfo Borrell.
Under interim head coach Davy Arnaud — getting to showcase what tactics he was able to implement during a midseason break — Verde came out in what at first looked like a distinct 4-3-3 formation, with Brandon Vázquez, Myrto Uzuni, and Facundo Torres all effectively parallel.
Joseph Rosales was deployed as a right back to start the match, while Jon Gallagher started as what eventually revealed itself to be a left wingback in a 5-2-3, though he played the first phase of the game so high up the field that he looked like a left winger in a 4-3-3.
The Sounders, meanwhile, made the best of its compromised-by-injury lineup choices, going with a roster that included Verde Enemy No. 1 Jesus Ferreira and folk hero Paul Rothrock.
Verde made good on its first chance in the 11th, winning a corner kick when Rosales sent in a diagonal cross from the right flank that Sounders defender Peter Kingston headed out just past the far post. Then, on the resulting corner, Besard Šabović sent in a curler that Ilie Sánchez was able to get his head to, redirecting it enough to get past Sounders goalkeeper Andrew Thomas for the early lead.
Five minutes later, Uzuni nearly got Austin's second, getting onto an errant Thomas pass and just overhitting an attempted chip from beyond the 18.
Despite Verde looking dominant, the dreaded costly defensive lapse came in the 26th minute, with Sounders players assembling around the box, Snyder Brunell charging into the right channel to hit a Kingston cutback pass off the post – which caromed to Rothrock, lurking behind Rosales with plenty of space to run onto the rebound unchallenged.
Austin FC next looked threatening in the 34th minute, getting numbers in the Sounders box for a Vázquez shot Thomas repelled, and then after the Sounders momentarily wrested control, Verde got it back for Uzuni to flub a first-touch chance but got a second chance at goal, forcing Thomas to collect.
In the second half, the Sounders started to increase its momentum and possession, prompting a triple sub just after the hour mark to get Przemysław Płacheta and Owen Wolff on for Šabović and Rosales to get some more offensive spark (and to deal with the yellow card that Šabović earned moments before), and then Mateja Đorđević to spell Brendan Hines-Ike, who we learned Monday wouldn't be 90-minutes-ready heading into this one.
Verde created a decent chance in the 69th, with Torres sending over a cross that Vázquez headed toward goal, though Thomas was able to deal with it easily. Less impressive was a 73rd minute free kick, which Torres landed in a dangerous but unoccupied area; Uzuni got to it first, and with a narrow angle at goal but a pathway to draw defenders and perhaps get a cross back in, he instead it hoofed it out of bounds to kill off the chance.
In the 80th minute, the Sounders worked the ball in front of goal, with Ferreira making an unselfish pass to an open Albert Rusnak, who hit a dangerous top-bins shot that Brad Stuver got fingertips to, keeping Austin from going down.
Then, after some shots from Płacheta and Jon Gallagher went wanting, Arnaud made a Torres-for-Torres sub (with Ervin coming on for Facundo), and a Superman-for-Superman sub (with Ramírez on for Vázquez).
That paid dividends almost immediately; in the 86th, Verde had one of its best in-the-box sequences of the match, with the younger Torres feeding Uzuni for the go-ahead goal.
Then, to seal the deal, Torres got his second assist in the first minute of stoppage time, finding Ramírez in front of goal with a pinpoint pass; Ramírez then contorted his body to get a bit more power behind the shot, which had enough on it to nestle inside the far post.
Uzuni had a chance for a breakaway goal deep into stoppage time, but Jackson Ragen saved it with a foul earning him a second yellow card and a sendoff.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Stuver's save on Rusnak's 80th-minute shot preserved the draw.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
Verde All Day photographer Alex Rubio captured it well. This shot from Brunell led to the goal, but for a moment, the outcome is suspended in the ether of possibility, with Stuver unsure if it will go in, sail harmlessly wide, or carom off the post to an unmarked Rothrock just waiting to score. Joseph Rosales watches right along with it, seemingly having it not occur to him to slide over closer to Rothrock.
If you remember Jim Curtin's discussion of the red zone from his introductory press conference, he described it as the area of the field where, if you connect the six-yard box to the top of the 18, that's where 87% of goals are scored in MLS."
He then said, "We are going to defend that with our lives. You'll see it painted on all our training grounds now on the field, where that red zone is something that we protect and defend with our lives."
That did not happen on this play.
One thing you might have missed
The seemingly mild-mannered Brian Schmetzer got a yellow card from his spot in the technical area in the 41st minute.
One nerdy tidbit
I'm going to lean on Futi a lot in the second half of this season, I can tell. Here's an interesting end-of-match graphic. Aside from the "deserved win" meter, which went even after being decidedly on the Sounders' side for a good portion of the match, look at the transition xG. (Austin's in green.)
Where this fits into the season's narrative
With the win, Verde stopped a four-match winless streak that dates back to May; their previous win was May 2 over
A question we have heading into the press conference
I'm curious to know what Arnaud sought to implement in the midseason break — was it was how the wingbacks were deployed? — and how successful he felt that was.
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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