It was a good night for inverted wingbacks, as Austin FC got its two goals from players still growing accustomed to their new roles. The win leaves Verde in good position in Leagues Cup.
Austin FC, opening its 2026 Leagues Cup campaign on Thursday night, got a relatively early goal from Joseph Rosales and a goal from Jon Gallagher just before halftime, which was enough for a 2-0 win against Club Tijuana. That vaulted Verde into the top eight of MLS teams in Leagues Cup at the final whistle — with only the top four of 18 teams advancing to the knockout rounds.
The teams tested each other in the first 15 minutes, getting some balls in dangerous places but not able to test either keeper with a shot on target. That included starting center back Mateja Đorđević getting his head onto a set piece and nodding just over.
That changed in the 16th, when Myrto Uzuni, with appreciable space in the middle of the pitch, lofted a diagonal switch pass to the right flank, where Rosales timed his run well and got behind the Xolos defense. Even though he initially misplayed the pass and had to come back to the ball, he had enough time to calmly regather and hoof a shot past Tijuana goalkeeper Antonio Rodríguez.
Verde tried their luck again with the same type of pass several minute later, determining a weakness in the Xolos defense they looked to exploit, but couldn't quite pull it off.
Dangerous moments followed in an action packed two minutes around the half-hour mark, with Adonis Preciado getting in a close range shot that Stuver kick saved, Jon Gallagher taking a Rosales pass into the box and forcing a Rodríguez, and then Preciado getting out on a break past Ervin Torres and into a one-v-one situation with Stuver — which Stuver got the best of by diving and palming Precaido's shot wide of goal.
Precaido then got chopped down by Oleksandr Svatok trying to break from deep in his own end, and stayed down for several minutes before the referee showed yellow; from the replays, a case could have been made for a red (and, if there were orange cards, this would be in the zone).
Gallagher doubled the lead in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, getting onto an Ervin Torres pass deflected by a Tijuana defender straight to him; he then calmly settled and shot what was close to a mirror image of the opening Rosales goal.
Two minutes past halftime, Precaido went down on what was clearly (to us) a Đorđević sliding tackle, but because it happened right in front of Svatok's position, the ref initially flagged Svatok with a second yellow. After a VAR check, the referee rightfully rescinded Svatok's second yellow and assigned it to Đorđević.
Following that drama, Gilberto Mora – the Tijuana star who became the youngest Mexican player to enter a World Cup match at the recent tournament — stepped up to hit a free kick and sent it just wide of a diving-anyway Stuver.
In the 63rd minute, interim head coach Davy Arnaud made his first subs, bringing on Brendan Hines-Ike for Đorđević and Owen Wolff for Besard Šabović, who put in a serviceable shift.
Three minutes later, Alan Vega scored an apparent goal, but the referee was ushered to the VAR monitor, determining Precaido was offside in the buildup to the goal. Reactions to both the goal and the callback gave indication of how many Tijuana (or at least Mexican soccer) fans were in the building. Then, in the following controversy that came, Tijuana's Ivan Tona got sent off for what appeared on the broadcast to be Tona bumping the referee while getting uncomfortably confrontational.
That allowed Arnaud a little more play-the-new-arrivals luxury, getting Przemysław Płacheta on for Oleksandr Svatok while Jorge Alastuey got ready to come in. That necessitated a shift in which:
Ilie Sánchez moved to center back;
Rosales shifted to defensive midfield; and
Płacheta moved over to right wingback.
Alastuey then came for Uzuni in the 83rd minute, and Žan Kolmanič spelled Gallagher as part of a final double sub. The assembled players were then able to weather the eight minutes of stoppage time to ride out the shutout.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Stuver's two saves on Precaido were match-saving stops and allowed Verde the cushion to find a lead-doubling goal.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
In the 56th minute, Uzuni fed Brandon Vázquez with a pass in front of goal that he couldn't get his feet right on, muffing the chance. Coming after shots and passes on target, the evidence for being concerned about Verde's DP No. 9 is growing.
One thing you might have missed
Tijuana started the match with two triple-digit players — an indicator of younger academy players getting elevated to the first team. (Joban González was No. 202, and Alejandro Magallón was No. 188. Vázquez was once a similarly-numbered Tijuana player when he was preparing his pro career.
One nerdy tidbit
Verde finished the first half with 10 touches in its opponent's box — more than they managed the entire match against Colorado. (And two of those touches were successful shots.)
Also, it took a cup competition to do it, but Jon Gallagher is now the first Austin FC player to score in each of the team's first six seasons.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
In 2024, Verde put a disappointing season on pause to get two big wins against Monterrey and Pumas in the Leagues Cup group stage to temporarily buoy the fans paying attention — though the team did inexplicably, due to how the tournament was designed, have to travel to LAFC to start (and end) the knockout rounds.
Beating Tijuana in 2026 isn't quite the same, but it shows that this team is still capable of a convincing home win.
A question we have heading into the press conference
What about this match allowed inverted wingbacks to look so good when they haven't in prior matches?
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.
Myrto Uzuni sees Leagues Cup as an opportunity to show how Austin FC can play. Interim head coach Davy Arnaud looks for his team to further master a new style of play.
Austin FC has announced its official 2026 Leagues Cup roster. However, due to when roster submissions were due, expect at least one change to the initial 30 named.
Leagues Cup begins on Tuesday, and Austin FC's portion of it begins on Thursday. Here's a quick guide to how the newly streamlined tournament will work.
Austin FC was less than four minutes away from escaping Colorado with a scoreless draw. Yet interim head coach Davy Arnaud compared this unfavorably to a 3-0 loss the week before.
Austin FC, opening its 2026 Leagues Cup campaign on Thursday night, got a relatively early goal from Joseph Rosales and a goal from Jon Gallagher just before halftime, which was enough for a 2-0 win against Club Tijuana. That vaulted Verde into the top eight of MLS teams in Leagues Cup at the final whistle — with only the top four of 18 teams advancing to the knockout rounds.
The teams tested each other in the first 15 minutes, getting some balls in dangerous places but not able to test either keeper with a shot on target. That included starting center back Mateja Đorđević getting his head onto a set piece and nodding just over.
That changed in the 16th, when Myrto Uzuni, with appreciable space in the middle of the pitch, lofted a diagonal switch pass to the right flank, where Rosales timed his run well and got behind the Xolos defense. Even though he initially misplayed the pass and had to come back to the ball, he had enough time to calmly regather and hoof a shot past Tijuana goalkeeper Antonio Rodríguez.
Verde tried their luck again with the same type of pass several minute later, determining a weakness in the Xolos defense they looked to exploit, but couldn't quite pull it off.
Dangerous moments followed in an action packed two minutes around the half-hour mark, with Adonis Preciado getting in a close range shot that Stuver kick saved, Jon Gallagher taking a Rosales pass into the box and forcing a Rodríguez, and then Preciado getting out on a break past Ervin Torres and into a one-v-one situation with Stuver — which Stuver got the best of by diving and palming Precaido's shot wide of goal.
Precaido then got chopped down by Oleksandr Svatok trying to break from deep in his own end, and stayed down for several minutes before the referee showed yellow; from the replays, a case could have been made for a red (and, if there were orange cards, this would be in the zone).
Gallagher doubled the lead in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, getting onto an Ervin Torres pass deflected by a Tijuana defender straight to him; he then calmly settled and shot what was close to a mirror image of the opening Rosales goal.
Two minutes past halftime, Precaido went down on what was clearly (to us) a Đorđević sliding tackle, but because it happened right in front of Svatok's position, the ref initially flagged Svatok with a second yellow. After a VAR check, the referee rightfully rescinded Svatok's second yellow and assigned it to Đorđević.
Following that drama, Gilberto Mora – the Tijuana star who became the youngest Mexican player to enter a World Cup match at the recent tournament — stepped up to hit a free kick and sent it just wide of a diving-anyway Stuver.
In the 63rd minute, interim head coach Davy Arnaud made his first subs, bringing on Brendan Hines-Ike for Đorđević and Owen Wolff for Besard Šabović, who put in a serviceable shift.
Three minutes later, Alan Vega scored an apparent goal, but the referee was ushered to the VAR monitor, determining Precaido was offside in the buildup to the goal. Reactions to both the goal and the callback gave indication of how many Tijuana (or at least Mexican soccer) fans were in the building. Then, in the following controversy that came, Tijuana's Ivan Tona got sent off for what appeared on the broadcast to be Tona bumping the referee while getting uncomfortably confrontational.
That allowed Arnaud a little more play-the-new-arrivals luxury, getting Przemysław Płacheta on for Oleksandr Svatok while Jorge Alastuey got ready to come in. That necessitated a shift in which:
Alastuey then came for Uzuni in the 83rd minute, and Žan Kolmanič spelled Gallagher as part of a final double sub. The assembled players were then able to weather the eight minutes of stoppage time to ride out the shutout.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Stuver's two saves on Precaido were match-saving stops and allowed Verde the cushion to find a lead-doubling goal.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
In the 56th minute, Uzuni fed Brandon Vázquez with a pass in front of goal that he couldn't get his feet right on, muffing the chance. Coming after shots and passes on target, the evidence for being concerned about Verde's DP No. 9 is growing.
One thing you might have missed
Tijuana started the match with two triple-digit players — an indicator of younger academy players getting elevated to the first team. (Joban González was No. 202, and Alejandro Magallón was No. 188. Vázquez was once a similarly-numbered Tijuana player when he was preparing his pro career.
One nerdy tidbit
Verde finished the first half with 10 touches in its opponent's box — more than they managed the entire match against Colorado. (And two of those touches were successful shots.)
Also, it took a cup competition to do it, but Jon Gallagher is now the first Austin FC player to score in each of the team's first six seasons.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
In 2024, Verde put a disappointing season on pause to get two big wins against Monterrey and Pumas in the Leagues Cup group stage to temporarily buoy the fans paying attention — though the team did inexplicably, due to how the tournament was designed, have to travel to LAFC to start (and end) the knockout rounds.
Beating Tijuana in 2026 isn't quite the same, but it shows that this team is still capable of a convincing home win.
A question we have heading into the press conference
What about this match allowed inverted wingbacks to look so good when they haven't in prior matches?
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.
Read Next
'We have to wake up': Preparing for an attitude-adjusting Leagues Cup
Myrto Uzuni sees Leagues Cup as an opportunity to show how Austin FC can play. Interim head coach Davy Arnaud looks for his team to further master a new style of play.
Austin FC releases official 2026 Leagues Cup roster
Austin FC has announced its official 2026 Leagues Cup roster. However, due to when roster submissions were due, expect at least one change to the initial 30 named.
Your brief but thorough guide to 2026 Leagues Cup
Leagues Cup begins on Tuesday, and Austin FC's portion of it begins on Thursday. Here's a quick guide to how the newly streamlined tournament will work.
'Tonight was not progress for us': Assessing an almost-draw in almost-Denver
Austin FC was less than four minutes away from escaping Colorado with a scoreless draw. Yet interim head coach Davy Arnaud compared this unfavorably to a 3-0 loss the week before.