At the Whistle: Austin FC 1, Sporting Kansas City 2
A Verde goal scored just before halftime made it look like a critical home win was forthcoming. The conference's worst team (by record) had other ideas.
Late goals let in let Austin FC down once again.
In what turned out to be a critical game between the (checks notes) No. 13 and No. 15 teams in the West, Austin FC gave up goals in the 79th and 83rd minute via subs Manu Garcia and Stephen Afrifa, after getting a goal just before halftime from Mikkel Desler, leading to a 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night in Q2 Stadium — the team's last home match before a lengthy World Cup break that brings them back to their home stadium on July 22.
Verde started with a few notable swaps in the starting lineup, including Owen Wolff making his first start of the year and Guilherme Biro resuming at left back after being held out of Wednesday's match for fear of getting to the magic yellow card activating suspension.
Notably, Besard Šabović didn't make the matchday 20.
Neither team was able to threaten much in the first 15, with Calvin Harris's 12th-minute shot, courting a save from Brad Stuver, create some mild panic — but not on the levels of the adventures in goalkeeping a minute prior.
It was a heart-in-throat moment in the 11th minute — Stuver came out to the edge of his box thinking he could strip the ball from Dejan Joveljić, and after failing, had to defend him like a left back — since the left back on that play was elsewhere — to neutralize the threat.
In the 16th, Facundo Torres stood over a free kick that Wolff won, lofting a dangerous ball goalward where Biro stood, but Biro was unable to get a head to it.
In the 23rd, Harris got free for a shot being chased by Mikkel Desler across a section of the 18-yard box, just missing wide, and as the first half continued on, the visitors looked the more threatening team, and engineered more danger of the Verde half of the field.
But, in the first few seconds of stoppage time, Biro sent a cross to an awaiting and alone Desler just to the right of the penalty spot; he volleyed it into the far post, past his former teammate Stefan Cleveland, against the run of play. With only one minute of stoppage time, Verde went into the locker room up 1-0, turning what might have been bitter halftime boos into cheers and green light.
Following halftime, not a lot of terribly exciting soccer happened, though Verde exerted more defensive control over the match, with the few Verde chances engineered snuffed out before they could blossom in the final third.
Head coach Nico Estévez made a double sub in the 60th, getting Wolff and Ramírez off for Jon Gallagher and Jayden Nelson. But even with the infusion of speed, it still took Verde until minute 68 to get their first shot of the half, via Myrto Uzuni.
In the 73rd, Estévez made another double sub to get Dani Pereira and Brandon Vázquez on, and Verde's offensive output increased after that. Unfortunately for Verde's, though, so did SKC's.
SKC's two goals in five minutes came from plays in which Verde had defenders marking but were bested nonetheless. In the 79th, Manu Garcia — coming on as a sub 16 minutes prior — received the ball outside the box and moved forward, committing to the shot as four Verde players converged around him, but went forward with the plan and beat Stuver.
Then, in the 83rd, Afrifa — coming on seven minutes prior — went one-on-one against Jon Bell, and curled in a shot that emphatically banged off the crossbar on its way in.
CJ Fodrey was brought in for Desler right after that to try to engineer some late game magic. No late game magic was forthcoming.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
In the 58th minute, Shapi Suleymanov set up for a free kick, and Christian Ramírez was part of a two-man wall. Shapi's shot hammered into Ramírez's midsection, and he went down instantly, but the wall held and shut down a dangerous opportunity. Way to give up your body on that one, Christian!
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
In the 56th minute, Torres initiated a counter, going nearly box to box on a marauding run downfield, and then, with players to the left and the right of him ... dumped the ball with a heavy touch straight into an SKC defender, ending the threat. The goal possible there might have proved vital.
One thing you might have missed
In the 45th minute, SKC won a free kick, and Cleveland ambled over to the sideline to pick up a ball and then took the kick himself, well outside of his box. On this night, for brief moments, neither goalkeeper could be contained.
One nerdy tidbit
Here's what the game state looked like just prior to Desler's goal, including a 0.47 to 0.03 xG advantage for the visitors.
And then right after.
(Still no big chances for either team per how they label them, but come on.)
Where this fits into the season's narrative
Questions about Estévez's future, the roster build, whether a Wooden Spoon is on the horizon ... everything comes into a more dour light with this loss. This is most decidedly an inflection point for not just the season, but for the franchise.
A question we have heading into the press conference
In a match in which Estévez shifted his lineup to have most of his best players out there, in their last home match before a two-month break, why this relatively lackluster performance?
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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Late goals let in let Austin FC down once again.
In what turned out to be a critical game between the (checks notes) No. 13 and No. 15 teams in the West, Austin FC gave up goals in the 79th and 83rd minute via subs Manu Garcia and Stephen Afrifa, after getting a goal just before halftime from Mikkel Desler, leading to a 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night in Q2 Stadium — the team's last home match before a lengthy World Cup break that brings them back to their home stadium on July 22.
Verde started with a few notable swaps in the starting lineup, including Owen Wolff making his first start of the year and Guilherme Biro resuming at left back after being held out of Wednesday's match for fear of getting to the magic yellow card activating suspension.
Notably, Besard Šabović didn't make the matchday 20.
Neither team was able to threaten much in the first 15, with Calvin Harris's 12th-minute shot, courting a save from Brad Stuver, create some mild panic — but not on the levels of the adventures in goalkeeping a minute prior.
It was a heart-in-throat moment in the 11th minute — Stuver came out to the edge of his box thinking he could strip the ball from Dejan Joveljić, and after failing, had to defend him like a left back — since the left back on that play was elsewhere — to neutralize the threat.
In the 16th, Facundo Torres stood over a free kick that Wolff won, lofting a dangerous ball goalward where Biro stood, but Biro was unable to get a head to it.
In the 23rd, Harris got free for a shot being chased by Mikkel Desler across a section of the 18-yard box, just missing wide, and as the first half continued on, the visitors looked the more threatening team, and engineered more danger of the Verde half of the field.
But, in the first few seconds of stoppage time, Biro sent a cross to an awaiting and alone Desler just to the right of the penalty spot; he volleyed it into the far post, past his former teammate Stefan Cleveland, against the run of play. With only one minute of stoppage time, Verde went into the locker room up 1-0, turning what might have been bitter halftime boos into cheers and green light.
Following halftime, not a lot of terribly exciting soccer happened, though Verde exerted more defensive control over the match, with the few Verde chances engineered snuffed out before they could blossom in the final third.
Head coach Nico Estévez made a double sub in the 60th, getting Wolff and Ramírez off for Jon Gallagher and Jayden Nelson. But even with the infusion of speed, it still took Verde until minute 68 to get their first shot of the half, via Myrto Uzuni.
In the 73rd, Estévez made another double sub to get Dani Pereira and Brandon Vázquez on, and Verde's offensive output increased after that. Unfortunately for Verde's, though, so did SKC's.
SKC's two goals in five minutes came from plays in which Verde had defenders marking but were bested nonetheless. In the 79th, Manu Garcia — coming on as a sub 16 minutes prior — received the ball outside the box and moved forward, committing to the shot as four Verde players converged around him, but went forward with the plan and beat Stuver.
Then, in the 83rd, Afrifa — coming on seven minutes prior — went one-on-one against Jon Bell, and curled in a shot that emphatically banged off the crossbar on its way in.
CJ Fodrey was brought in for Desler right after that to try to engineer some late game magic. No late game magic was forthcoming.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
In the 58th minute, Shapi Suleymanov set up for a free kick, and Christian Ramírez was part of a two-man wall. Shapi's shot hammered into Ramírez's midsection, and he went down instantly, but the wall held and shut down a dangerous opportunity. Way to give up your body on that one, Christian!
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
In the 56th minute, Torres initiated a counter, going nearly box to box on a marauding run downfield, and then, with players to the left and the right of him ... dumped the ball with a heavy touch straight into an SKC defender, ending the threat. The goal possible there might have proved vital.
One thing you might have missed
In the 45th minute, SKC won a free kick, and Cleveland ambled over to the sideline to pick up a ball and then took the kick himself, well outside of his box. On this night, for brief moments, neither goalkeeper could be contained.
One nerdy tidbit
Here's what the game state looked like just prior to Desler's goal, including a 0.47 to 0.03 xG advantage for the visitors.
And then right after.
(Still no big chances for either team per how they label them, but come on.)
Where this fits into the season's narrative
Questions about Estévez's future, the roster build, whether a Wooden Spoon is on the horizon ... everything comes into a more dour light with this loss. This is most decidedly an inflection point for not just the season, but for the franchise.
A question we have heading into the press conference
In a match in which Estévez shifted his lineup to have most of his best players out there, in their last home match before a two-month break, why this relatively lackluster performance?
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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