New Houston Dynamo FC signing Ondřej Lingr scored his second goal in as many games, and Ezequiel Ponce added his third goal of the season, leading the hosts to a 2-0 win over Austin FC at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday night – sending Verde to the bottom of the still-barely-formed Copa Tejas standings.
Verde started the match without leading goalscorer Brandon Vázquez, who was listed as questionable on Friday with illness, meaning that Austin opted for a front three of Jáder Obrian, Myrto Uzuni, and Osman Bukari to start together for the first time in a regular-season match.
Verde looked quicker to the ball and more willing to have the ball early, gathering 54% possession in the first 20 minutes despite trends from both teams to the contrary.
Dani Pereira ripped a shot from distance in the 29th minute that nearly went in, but appeared to hurt himself on the landing, leading to Besard Šabović subbing on and altering head coach Nico Estévez's sub patterns.
Arguably Houston's best chance of the first half came on a free kick by Jack McGlynn, resulting from an Ilie Sánchez foul on Ponce (yellow carded for a dive earlier in the half on a similar play) that Brad Stuver had to palm away. (There was also an Amine Bassi bicycle kick in there that hit the post, but because Griffin Dorsey was offside in the build-up, it doesn't count.)
Verde had a double chance a moment later in a chaotic sequence in front of goal, starting with Jon Gallagher springing Uzuni toward goal on a long diagnoal pass, and Obrian attempting to put the ping-ponging ball on frame. Alas, it would remain scoreless at the half.
McGlynn got the first real chance of the second half, working toward goal from the flank to put in a shot just whizzing past the post. Bukari returned the favor a moment later with a similar shot.
In the 57th minute, Verde dodged danger when Dorsey broke downfield after an Austin corner attempt, finding Basse with a pass inside the box setting him up for a shot – which he thankfully scuffed.
Then, disaster struck in the 61st minute; Owen Wolff made contact with Dorsey in the box, and rather than whistling for the foul, referee Chris Penso let play resume, and Wolff made an ill-advised pass that Lingr chested down at the top of the box and whizzed past Stuver to give the hosts the lead.
Then, in the 79th minute, another ill-advised pass – from substitute Žan Kolmanič – led to a turnover and a Dynamo break, ending with Dorsey finding a fairly open Ponce for a fairly easy shot.
Verde engineered one promising chance in the 82nd minute, but didn't do much offensively overall in the second half, and remain with just seven goals in 10 matches.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
In a match without a whole lot of Verde flash, the pass from Gallagher to Uzuni springing him for the first-half chance was a beaut.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
Pereira's landing on that long attempted shot looks like an injury of at least a couple of weeks as Verde goes into one of its most congested parts of the season. That might even be worse than Wolff on the goal sequence (which was quite bad).
Something you might have missed
If you didn't see Pereira's 16th-minute cross after a Dynamo turnover following a Dynamo throw-in, it skimmed just past a sliding Uzuni and sliding Obrian, just to be doubly frustrating.
One nerdy tidbit
Per MLSSoccer.com's stats, Austin FC finished with a 0.5-0.2 xG "advantage" at halftime (with more than half of that coming on the Uzuni attempt).
It finished with Houston climbing to 1 xG and Austin fizzling out at 0.7.
A question we have heading into the press conference
Why so flat and uninspired after such a relatively energetic beginning? (We'll ask about the Pereira injury as well.)
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
New Houston Dynamo FC signing Ondřej Lingr scored his second goal in as many games, and Ezequiel Ponce added his third goal of the season, leading the hosts to a 2-0 win over Austin FC at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday night – sending Verde to the bottom of the still-barely-formed Copa Tejas standings.
Verde started the match without leading goalscorer Brandon Vázquez, who was listed as questionable on Friday with illness, meaning that Austin opted for a front three of Jáder Obrian, Myrto Uzuni, and Osman Bukari to start together for the first time in a regular-season match.
Verde looked quicker to the ball and more willing to have the ball early, gathering 54% possession in the first 20 minutes despite trends from both teams to the contrary.
Dani Pereira ripped a shot from distance in the 29th minute that nearly went in, but appeared to hurt himself on the landing, leading to Besard Šabović subbing on and altering head coach Nico Estévez's sub patterns.
Arguably Houston's best chance of the first half came on a free kick by Jack McGlynn, resulting from an Ilie Sánchez foul on Ponce (yellow carded for a dive earlier in the half on a similar play) that Brad Stuver had to palm away. (There was also an Amine Bassi bicycle kick in there that hit the post, but because Griffin Dorsey was offside in the build-up, it doesn't count.)
Verde had a double chance a moment later in a chaotic sequence in front of goal, starting with Jon Gallagher springing Uzuni toward goal on a long diagnoal pass, and Obrian attempting to put the ping-ponging ball on frame. Alas, it would remain scoreless at the half.
McGlynn got the first real chance of the second half, working toward goal from the flank to put in a shot just whizzing past the post. Bukari returned the favor a moment later with a similar shot.
In the 57th minute, Verde dodged danger when Dorsey broke downfield after an Austin corner attempt, finding Basse with a pass inside the box setting him up for a shot – which he thankfully scuffed.
Then, disaster struck in the 61st minute; Owen Wolff made contact with Dorsey in the box, and rather than whistling for the foul, referee Chris Penso let play resume, and Wolff made an ill-advised pass that Lingr chested down at the top of the box and whizzed past Stuver to give the hosts the lead.
Then, in the 79th minute, another ill-advised pass – from substitute Žan Kolmanič – led to a turnover and a Dynamo break, ending with Dorsey finding a fairly open Ponce for a fairly easy shot.
Verde engineered one promising chance in the 82nd minute, but didn't do much offensively overall in the second half, and remain with just seven goals in 10 matches.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
In a match without a whole lot of Verde flash, the pass from Gallagher to Uzuni springing him for the first-half chance was a beaut.
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
Pereira's landing on that long attempted shot looks like an injury of at least a couple of weeks as Verde goes into one of its most congested parts of the season. That might even be worse than Wolff on the goal sequence (which was quite bad).
Something you might have missed
If you didn't see Pereira's 16th-minute cross after a Dynamo turnover following a Dynamo throw-in, it skimmed just past a sliding Uzuni and sliding Obrian, just to be doubly frustrating.
One nerdy tidbit
Per MLSSoccer.com's stats, Austin FC finished with a 0.5-0.2 xG "advantage" at halftime (with more than half of that coming on the Uzuni attempt).
It finished with Houston climbing to 1 xG and Austin fizzling out at 0.7.
A question we have heading into the press conference
Why so flat and uninspired after such a relatively energetic beginning? (We'll ask about the Pereira injury as well.)
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
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