At the Whistle: Austin FC 1, San Jose Earthquakes 1
Austin FC appeared to get an equalizer just two minutes after going down early. When it was waved away, it took more than 90 minutes to finally salvage the point at home.
Going into Saturday night, the San Jose Earthquakes were winless in seven matches and had only one outright win in their last 13 match days. Austin FC kept San Jose on that track and trend, much to their chagrin.
It took until the last touch of the game, but Austin got there, salvaging a 1-1 draw thanks to Guilherme Biro's heroics.
An 8th-minute goal from Beau Leroux made it look like San Jose were taking September seriously, answered two minutes later by a Facundo Torres would-be goal that ended up disallowed after a three-minute-long VAR check for handball that no one on the Quakes asked for, it was so unclear and not-obvious.
Most of the time leading up to the 30th minute hydration break found Verde trying to re-establish their promising pressing from the opening minutes of the match. Following Joseph Rosales drawing a promising corner at the 26th minute, Facundo Torres lofted it to no one in a deadly red zone spot. On the counter, Benji Kikanovic crossed it right-to-left in almost the exact same way (only he had someone ready to receive), and it almost turned into a second San Jose goal.
Following a round of hydro shots on a tray during the cooling break, Austin executed multiple promising charges forward that led to equally promising crosses in ... but the promises kept failing to deliver despite solid effort. One such press resulted in a brain-melting tangle between "Sabo" and "JoRo" (due to Rosales just plain getting in the way) that resulted in a turnover that Ousseni Bouda almost drove right down the middle into the Quakes' second goal.
The Joseph Rosales left-footed strike from the right side that almost equalized in the first half. (Photo: Alex Rubio, CincoSoles Media)The goThe Tt
Corner after corner after corner turned into 10 (five for each team) by the time six minutes of first-half stoppage time was announced. A left-footed strike from Rosales on the right side at 45+5' came the closest to fulfilling all the promise of the first half, just before it ended with no joy for Austin.
Would a head-clearing halftime cool-off and recalibration break the door down after all that knocking?
Fifteen minutes into the second half, Austin mad their first subs with a Žan-for-Jon Kolmanič/Gallagher swap and Jon Bell in for a bandaged-due-to-a-shiner Oleksandr Svatok. The door-knocking resumed on the other side of a double sub (Ramírez for Alastuey and Placheta in for Rosales) and especially after a final sub of Brendan Hines-Ike for Mikkel Desler at 75'. At 77', Facundo Torres narrowly missed a great chance in front of goal, and once play went dead, the Quakes exhausted their subs going for a triple dip to hold the 1-0 scoreline.
Literal shot. (Photo: Alex Rubio, CincoSoles Media)
The promise of an Austin goal that counted finally came true at the death thanks to a glorious, exasperated strike from Biro at 90+6' after Brandon Vázquez headed down a bal for Christian Ramírez to tap across to the Brazilian sensation
Celly chaser. (Photo: Alex Rubio, CincoSoles Media)
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
This had to be the combination play that should have been ruled a goal and changed the game in the 10th minute. This hurt Verde for the duration of the game not just on account of losing the equalizer that would have brought things back to neutral on the scorecard, but from losing crucial momentum and focus so early One of the longest VAR monitor reviews in recent memory didn't help.
One thing you might have missed
It was Luchador Night, and during halftime they ran footage from Verdisimo's successful title defense against somebody hailing from Medellín, Colombia whose name I missed. They ran footage of the match during halftime in the stadium. Yet another instance proving that Austin FC's video team is unparalleled in MLS for turning around not just TikTok-length highlights but a full on condensed match.
Verdisimo executing a Spinebuster shortly before pinning and winning. (Photo: Moisés Chiullán)
One nerdy tidbit
In the same way that every Star Trek captain has their own way of telling their navigator to engage the warp drive, each MLS coach defines their own gameday fits. Tonight, Davy Arnaud added "button down chambray shirt" to his repertoire. At first glance, you may have thought it was denim, but even though they are similar, denim and chambray are not the same thing.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
Based on what I wrote yesterday about the September campaign, Austin needed this win as one of their three most-needed, not just for the points but to steer San Jose into a downward spiral. Thing is, it's survivable thanks to Results Elsewhere as of this writing breaking favorably for Austin (Colorado losing to Columbus, San Diego losing to Orlando). If San Jose stay glued to 4th place, then maybe they end up being that "solid 4th" team at the top of the stagnant Western Conference pond instead of a Dallas that went down early against SKC and only barely notching a 4-3 win at the end of that match .
September is only 1/5 match days in. Could be worse for Austin, could be a little better. Midweek against the Rapids is even more crucial now.
A question we have heading into the press conference
What does this portend for a midweek match against a Colorado that got shut out 3-0 by Columbus (and approach a USOC Semifinal) before heading up to Vancouver next weekend?
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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Going into Saturday night, the San Jose Earthquakes were winless in seven matches and had only one outright win in their last 13 match days. Austin FC kept San Jose on that track and trend, much to their chagrin.
It took until the last touch of the game, but Austin got there, salvaging a 1-1 draw thanks to Guilherme Biro's heroics.
An 8th-minute goal from Beau Leroux made it look like San Jose were taking September seriously, answered two minutes later by a Facundo Torres would-be goal that ended up disallowed after a three-minute-long VAR check for handball that no one on the Quakes asked for, it was so unclear and not-obvious.
Most of the time leading up to the 30th minute hydration break found Verde trying to re-establish their promising pressing from the opening minutes of the match. Following Joseph Rosales drawing a promising corner at the 26th minute, Facundo Torres lofted it to no one in a deadly red zone spot. On the counter, Benji Kikanovic crossed it right-to-left in almost the exact same way (only he had someone ready to receive), and it almost turned into a second San Jose goal.
Following a round of hydro shots on a tray during the cooling break, Austin executed multiple promising charges forward that led to equally promising crosses in ... but the promises kept failing to deliver despite solid effort. One such press resulted in a brain-melting tangle between "Sabo" and "JoRo" (due to Rosales just plain getting in the way) that resulted in a turnover that Ousseni Bouda almost drove right down the middle into the Quakes' second goal.
Corner after corner after corner turned into 10 (five for each team) by the time six minutes of first-half stoppage time was announced. A left-footed strike from Rosales on the right side at 45+5' came the closest to fulfilling all the promise of the first half, just before it ended with no joy for Austin.
Would a head-clearing halftime cool-off and recalibration break the door down after all that knocking?
Fifteen minutes into the second half, Austin mad their first subs with a Žan-for-Jon Kolmanič/Gallagher swap and Jon Bell in for a bandaged-due-to-a-shiner Oleksandr Svatok. The door-knocking resumed on the other side of a double sub (Ramírez for Alastuey and Placheta in for Rosales) and especially after a final sub of Brendan Hines-Ike for Mikkel Desler at 75'. At 77', Facundo Torres narrowly missed a great chance in front of goal, and once play went dead, the Quakes exhausted their subs going for a triple dip to hold the 1-0 scoreline.
The promise of an Austin goal that counted finally came true at the death thanks to a glorious, exasperated strike from Biro at 90+6' after Brandon Vázquez headed down a bal for Christian Ramírez to tap across to the Brazilian sensation
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
This had to be the combination play that should have been ruled a goal and changed the game in the 10th minute. This hurt Verde for the duration of the game not just on account of losing the equalizer that would have brought things back to neutral on the scorecard, but from losing crucial momentum and focus so early One of the longest VAR monitor reviews in recent memory didn't help.
One thing you might have missed
It was Luchador Night, and during halftime they ran footage from Verdisimo's successful title defense against somebody hailing from Medellín, Colombia whose name I missed. They ran footage of the match during halftime in the stadium. Yet another instance proving that Austin FC's video team is unparalleled in MLS for turning around not just TikTok-length highlights but a full on condensed match.
One nerdy tidbit
In the same way that every Star Trek captain has their own way of telling their navigator to engage the warp drive, each MLS coach defines their own gameday fits. Tonight, Davy Arnaud added "button down chambray shirt" to his repertoire. At first glance, you may have thought it was denim, but even though they are similar, denim and chambray are not the same thing.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
Based on what I wrote yesterday about the September campaign, Austin needed this win as one of their three most-needed, not just for the points but to steer San Jose into a downward spiral. Thing is, it's survivable thanks to Results Elsewhere as of this writing breaking favorably for Austin (Colorado losing to Columbus, San Diego losing to Orlando). If San Jose stay glued to 4th place, then maybe they end up being that "solid 4th" team at the top of the stagnant Western Conference pond instead of a Dallas that went down early against SKC and only barely notching a 4-3 win at the end of that match .
September is only 1/5 match days in. Could be worse for Austin, could be a little better. Midweek against the Rapids is even more crucial now.
A question we have heading into the press conference
What does this portend for a midweek match against a Colorado that got shut out 3-0 by Columbus (and approach a USOC Semifinal) before heading up to Vancouver next weekend?
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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