Austin FC headed into Frisco unbeaten in six straight matches. They finished with a scoreless draw, extending the streak to seven matches, but barely.
In a Copa Tejas matchup at a stadium not particularly historically friendly to Austin FC, the visitors managed to hold FC Dallas to a scoreless draw at Toyota Stadium on Saturday, extending its unbeaten streak in MLS to seven matches.
Verde rolled out with a cavalier lineup, with Christian Ramírez getting the start as striker flanked by Facundo Torres and Jorge Alastuey, with Ervin Torres and Besard Šabović in the midfield mix
The match stopped almost as soon as it started, with Mikkel Desler coming down on Kaick's foot in the second minute, earning him a yellow card and contemplation of both a sub off and a sendoff. But Kaick and Desler remained on the field.
In the 11th minute, Kaick nearly scored, being led into goal by Joaquín Valiente, but Stuver was able to dive on to the dangerous ball before it was poked in.
Two minutes later, Joseph Rosales got the first shot on goal for Verde, a long range attempt that Daniel was able to handle.
In the 27th, Verde had a great chance, with Jon Gallagher sending a cross in, and Rosales getting on the end of it (just past the 18), and sending it just over the bar.
In the 52nd, positive play from F-Torres and Rosales — who got an inconsequential yellow card just minutes prior — resulted in a Jon Gallagher shot pushed wide.
In the 63rd, Boss made expected offensive subs, getting Myrto Uzuni and Brandon Vázquez on for Ramirez and Alastuey.
In the 71st, with offensive subs making no impact, Verde tried defensive subs, getting Ilie Sánchez and Brendan Hines-Ike in for Rosales and Šabović. A minute later, Gallagher had another chance on goal, blocked by Daniel.
In the 79th, Musa nicked the ball off of Oleksandr Svatok, which was terifying, though Svatok was able to do enough to ward off the threat.
Look to the 84-minute mark for Brandon Vázquez's chance in front of goal. It wasn't fruitful.
Uzuni had a 90th-minute attempt that went wide but added to Verde's overall xG.
Logan Farrington nearly had a match winner deep into stoppage time, but Stuver was able to kick save the shot away.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Either of the Gallagher attempts, I guess. Or the 90thminute Uzuni attempt.
Is the rabbit Verde, though? The 75th-minute rabbit was awesome.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
No identifiable bad moment from Verde, per se, but there were a lot of moments lacking in advancing the team offensively.
One thing you might have missed
We learned a few minutes into that match that Terry Boss was the acting head coach, as interim head coach Davy Arnaud was out dealing with an unspecified family issue.
One nerdy tidbit
At halftime, Verde managed just 0.09 xG per FotMob, compared to 0.99 for FCD, despite getting the edge in first-half possession and completed passes.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
The good news is it's seven unbeaten. But, wow, was this an unflattering scoreless draw.
A question we have heading into the press conference
0.26 xG. WTF?
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.
Also, we're fully in the 21st century now; join us on Instagram to get updates on all our stories and podcast releases.
Austin FC can't win Copa Tejas on Saturday night, but can certainly lose it facing FC Dallas in Frisco. We talk about outperforming one's xG, a new goalkeeper, and playoff hopes with a Toros expert.
Next Eleven is an Austin FC program created to use the power of soccer to encourage development in young people. Ilie Sánchez and Jorge Alastuey spoke to students Wednesday as club ambassadors.
Facundo Torres has been performing at close to the level you'd expect a designated player to be performing at. But for a good stretch of the season, he was (perplexingly) not.
Austin FC interim head coach Davy Arnaud insists his team is playing the same way each match. But Sunday's win over Vancouver required some unusual grit and timely goals.
In a Copa Tejas matchup at a stadium not particularly historically friendly to Austin FC, the visitors managed to hold FC Dallas to a scoreless draw at Toyota Stadium on Saturday, extending its unbeaten streak in MLS to seven matches.
Verde rolled out with a cavalier lineup, with Christian Ramírez getting the start as striker flanked by Facundo Torres and Jorge Alastuey, with Ervin Torres and Besard Šabović in the midfield mix
The match stopped almost as soon as it started, with Mikkel Desler coming down on Kaick's foot in the second minute, earning him a yellow card and contemplation of both a sub off and a sendoff. But Kaick and Desler remained on the field.
In the 11th minute, Kaick nearly scored, being led into goal by Joaquín Valiente, but Stuver was able to dive on to the dangerous ball before it was poked in.
Two minutes later, Joseph Rosales got the first shot on goal for Verde, a long range attempt that Daniel was able to handle.
In the 27th, Verde had a great chance, with Jon Gallagher sending a cross in, and Rosales getting on the end of it (just past the 18), and sending it just over the bar.
In the 52nd, positive play from F-Torres and Rosales — who got an inconsequential yellow card just minutes prior — resulted in a Jon Gallagher shot pushed wide.
In the 63rd, Boss made expected offensive subs, getting Myrto Uzuni and Brandon Vázquez on for Ramirez and Alastuey.
In the 71st, with offensive subs making no impact, Verde tried defensive subs, getting Ilie Sánchez and Brendan Hines-Ike in for Rosales and Šabović. A minute later, Gallagher had another chance on goal, blocked by Daniel.
In the 79th, Musa nicked the ball off of Oleksandr Svatok, which was terifying, though Svatok was able to do enough to ward off the threat.
Look to the 84-minute mark for Brandon Vázquez's chance in front of goal. It wasn't fruitful.
Uzuni had a 90th-minute attempt that went wide but added to Verde's overall xG.
Logan Farrington nearly had a match winner deep into stoppage time, but Stuver was able to kick save the shot away.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
Either of the Gallagher attempts, I guess. Or the 90thminute Uzuni attempt.
Is the rabbit Verde, though? The 75th-minute rabbit was awesome.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
No identifiable bad moment from Verde, per se, but there were a lot of moments lacking in advancing the team offensively.
One thing you might have missed
We learned a few minutes into that match that Terry Boss was the acting head coach, as interim head coach Davy Arnaud was out dealing with an unspecified family issue.
One nerdy tidbit
At halftime, Verde managed just 0.09 xG per FotMob, compared to 0.99 for FCD, despite getting the edge in first-half possession and completed passes.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
The good news is it's seven unbeaten. But, wow, was this an unflattering scoreless draw.
A question we have heading into the press conference
0.26 xG. WTF?
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.
Also, we're fully in the 21st century now; join us on Instagram to get updates on all our stories and podcast releases.
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