Austin FC appeared to be headed for a scoreless draw that would have at least kept them in the playoff mix. A late penalty instead gifted all three points to the Rapids.
Austin FC, aiming to get its first road win of 2026, took a 0-0 draw into stoppage time, but gave up a late costly penalty that Rafael Navarro converted, ultimately falling 1-0 to the Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. on Saturday night.
Verde started much like they did against Seattle in its last home match 10 days ago, with only Mateja "Hot Dog" Đorđević in place of Oleksandr Svatok and Owen Wolff in place of Ilie Sánchez. They also started in a back three, utilizing Đorđević, Brendan Hines-Ike, and Guilherme Biro while Jon Gallagher and Joseph Rosales started high up on the wings.
The hosts brought danger early, turning a Hamzat Ojediran shot into three dangerous corner kicks in a row, and gathering an early 4-0 shot advantage in the first five-minutes-plus.
Myrto Uzuni had Austin's true first moment of danger in the 19th minute, getting on the ball inside the box after a long throw in led to the attempt, but his attempt to finesse the ball into goal went just wide. Three minutes later, Uzuni won a free kick just outside the top of the box, and Besard Šabović was able to get the resultant kick past the Rapids' wall but not past goalkeeper Nico Hansen.
It was then Paxton Aaronson's time to shine, with two successive shots around the half-hour mark that busied Verde goalkeeper Brad Stuver.
The Rapids had one more significant chance before halftime, getting a set piece ball to Wayne Frederick at the far post headed just wide — though, had it gone in, Stuver would have had a good case for getting interfered with on the play.
It didn't take long for the Rapids to engineer danger coming out of the break, with Georgi Minoungou running in on goal and getting a shot that Stuver blocked, with Biro clearing the blocked ball off the line before it squeaked into goal. The Rapids found another shot via Frederick a minute later that went wide.
Verde nearly turned a cross into a goal several minutes later, with Gallagher sending in a cross that got to Brandon Vázquez's head but wide of the target. Two minutes later, Facundo Torres made a run upfield and sent a long shot wide of goal, though with not enough on it to trouble Hansen had it been on target.
Following three Rapids players subbing in to freshen Matt Wells' side, Verde interim head coach responded just after the hour mark by putting Ervin Torres in for Facundo Torres (again fond of the Torres-for-Torres sub), and Ilie in for Wolff.
Yellow cards, long wanting in this match, finally were issued around the 70th minute, but for E-Torres (just minutes into his shift) and Rosales.
Arnaud then sought to get fresh speed on the field, taking off Gallagher and Šabović for Jayden Nelson and Przemysław Płacheta in the 74th minute.
Christian Ramírez then got pulled into the match in the 80th to try to affect it; three minutes later, E-Torres passed to Ramírez, who drew a foul in a dangerous free kick area, but Rosales hit an absolute chimneys shot well over the bar.
Navarro had a Vázquezian bit of bad luck in front of goal in the 88th minute, heading corner kick service wide of the post after it optimally reached him in front of goal.
With four minutes of stoppage time gifted the teams, Darren Yapi hit a shot in the first minute, and the rebound from the Stuver save bounced wide out to Navarro, who was upended by Płacheta. He took his own PK and sent Stuver the wrong way to eke out the victory.
Verde had one more late chance at the death, but Hansen's save of Uzuni's last gasp shot (in the ninth minute of four minutes of stoppage time, but that's what penalty kicks do) preserved the Rapids' victory.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
The first part of Šabović's free kick looked promising, especially squeaking through the wall and staying on frame. Between this and his corner kick assist to open the scoring against Seattle, maybe he needs to be used more in dead ball situations.
Also, the Gallagher-to-Vázquez play looked great until it left Vázquez's head.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
The Rapids' first corner kick was particularly terrifying; Verde were fortunate not to give up an early goal in that sequence, and it hinted at some defensive disorganization that would plague the visitors throughout the match.
And then, of course, the late penalty given up.
One thing you might have missed
I'm not saying it's a quiet crowd in Commerce City, but you could hear Arnaud yelling "Myrto! Myrto!" audibly during one point midway through the first half.
One nerdy tidbit
Shout out to Travis Allison for pointing this out: At halftime, per Fotmob the Rapids led in the "touches in the opposing box" category 24 to 2. (By match's end, it was 47 to 8.)
One I noticed per Futi: the Rapids led in passes 269 to 90 at the half. (By match's end, it was 490 to 255.)
Where this fits into the season's narrative
It looked as if Verde would tough out a gritty road draw, but with the loss, the team's now 1W 5L 1D in its last seven, and the late goal now means Verde's dropped 16 points let in from winning or drawing positions at the 68th minute or later, reviving a storyline from the first half of the season.
A question we have heading into the press conference
Clearly, the three center back, two inverted wingback approach seems here to stay — but it appears to be leaving the midfield disconnected from the front line, manifesting in the dearth of touches in the box. What can be done to remedy that? (And please let the answer not be more crosses from wide areas.)
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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Austin FC, aiming to get its first road win of 2026, took a 0-0 draw into stoppage time, but gave up a late costly penalty that Rafael Navarro converted, ultimately falling 1-0 to the Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. on Saturday night.
Verde started much like they did against Seattle in its last home match 10 days ago, with only Mateja "Hot Dog" Đorđević in place of Oleksandr Svatok and Owen Wolff in place of Ilie Sánchez. They also started in a back three, utilizing Đorđević, Brendan Hines-Ike, and Guilherme Biro while Jon Gallagher and Joseph Rosales started high up on the wings.
The hosts brought danger early, turning a Hamzat Ojediran shot into three dangerous corner kicks in a row, and gathering an early 4-0 shot advantage in the first five-minutes-plus.
Myrto Uzuni had Austin's true first moment of danger in the 19th minute, getting on the ball inside the box after a long throw in led to the attempt, but his attempt to finesse the ball into goal went just wide. Three minutes later, Uzuni won a free kick just outside the top of the box, and Besard Šabović was able to get the resultant kick past the Rapids' wall but not past goalkeeper Nico Hansen.
It was then Paxton Aaronson's time to shine, with two successive shots around the half-hour mark that busied Verde goalkeeper Brad Stuver.
The Rapids had one more significant chance before halftime, getting a set piece ball to Wayne Frederick at the far post headed just wide — though, had it gone in, Stuver would have had a good case for getting interfered with on the play.
It didn't take long for the Rapids to engineer danger coming out of the break, with Georgi Minoungou running in on goal and getting a shot that Stuver blocked, with Biro clearing the blocked ball off the line before it squeaked into goal. The Rapids found another shot via Frederick a minute later that went wide.
Verde nearly turned a cross into a goal several minutes later, with Gallagher sending in a cross that got to Brandon Vázquez's head but wide of the target. Two minutes later, Facundo Torres made a run upfield and sent a long shot wide of goal, though with not enough on it to trouble Hansen had it been on target.
Following three Rapids players subbing in to freshen Matt Wells' side, Verde interim head coach responded just after the hour mark by putting Ervin Torres in for Facundo Torres (again fond of the Torres-for-Torres sub), and Ilie in for Wolff.
Yellow cards, long wanting in this match, finally were issued around the 70th minute, but for E-Torres (just minutes into his shift) and Rosales.
Arnaud then sought to get fresh speed on the field, taking off Gallagher and Šabović for Jayden Nelson and Przemysław Płacheta in the 74th minute.
Christian Ramírez then got pulled into the match in the 80th to try to affect it; three minutes later, E-Torres passed to Ramírez, who drew a foul in a dangerous free kick area, but Rosales hit an absolute chimneys shot well over the bar.
Navarro had a Vázquezian bit of bad luck in front of goal in the 88th minute, heading corner kick service wide of the post after it optimally reached him in front of goal.
With four minutes of stoppage time gifted the teams, Darren Yapi hit a shot in the first minute, and the rebound from the Stuver save bounced wide out to Navarro, who was upended by Płacheta. He took his own PK and sent Stuver the wrong way to eke out the victory.
Verde had one more late chance at the death, but Hansen's save of Uzuni's last gasp shot (in the ninth minute of four minutes of stoppage time, but that's what penalty kicks do) preserved the Rapids' victory.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
The first part of Šabović's free kick looked promising, especially squeaking through the wall and staying on frame. Between this and his corner kick assist to open the scoring against Seattle, maybe he needs to be used more in dead ball situations.
Also, the Gallagher-to-Vázquez play looked great until it left Vázquez's head.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
The Rapids' first corner kick was particularly terrifying; Verde were fortunate not to give up an early goal in that sequence, and it hinted at some defensive disorganization that would plague the visitors throughout the match.
And then, of course, the late penalty given up.
One thing you might have missed
I'm not saying it's a quiet crowd in Commerce City, but you could hear Arnaud yelling "Myrto! Myrto!" audibly during one point midway through the first half.
One nerdy tidbit
Shout out to Travis Allison for pointing this out: At halftime, per Fotmob the Rapids led in the "touches in the opposing box" category 24 to 2. (By match's end, it was 47 to 8.)
One I noticed per Futi: the Rapids led in passes 269 to 90 at the half. (By match's end, it was 490 to 255.)
Where this fits into the season's narrative
It looked as if Verde would tough out a gritty road draw, but with the loss, the team's now 1W 5L 1D in its last seven, and the late goal now means Verde's dropped 16 points let in from winning or drawing positions at the 68th minute or later, reviving a storyline from the first half of the season.
A question we have heading into the press conference
Clearly, the three center back, two inverted wingback approach seems here to stay — but it appears to be leaving the midfield disconnected from the front line, manifesting in the dearth of touches in the box. What can be done to remedy that? (And please let the answer not be more crosses from wide areas.)
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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