At the Whistle: Minnesota United FC 1, Austin FC 2 (!)
Wow. That was a lot.
With a U.S. Open Cup final on the line Wednesday night, Austin FC squeezed every last bit of drama out of 120 minutes, getting a 2-1 win against Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field in the match's final seconds. Osman Bukari scored as first-half stoppage time wound to a close, Joaquin Pereyra equalized in the second half, and CJ Fodrey came through with his second game winner in a 2-1 match this month.
Austin came out matching the Loons' three-center-back, two-wingback formation, positioning Žan Kolmanič and Mikkel Desler on the outside, and putting a mix of new and old in the center back three, with summer transfer window addition Mateja Đorđević getting his second start in Verde, alongside Brendan Hines-Ike and the increasingly unutilized Julio Cascante.
Verde got off to a quick start, with Bukari getting a cross central to meet a charging Owen Wolff a little more than a minute into the match. Though the subsequent Loons takedown of Wolff in the box wasn't whistled for a PK, it certainly could have been. (We didn't even get the benefit of a replay on the broadcast to fortify any arguments for it.)
From there, though, Minnesota looked increasingly threatening, with Robin Lod getting off several shots coming close to putting the hosts up in the first 15 minutes, and one corner kick play requiring Ilie Sánchez to head away a ball that came perilously close to going in.
Loons striker Kelvin Yeboah also seemed intent on drawing a PK, getting two potential shoutouts, including a close one involving Đorđević, before the first half was halfway complete. He would eventually need to come out in the 28th minute, showing signs that he was hurt on the landing in that Đorđević play (perhaps embellished), replaced by not-a-striker Joseph Rosales.
Bukari got himself into the book in the 24th minute, retaliating for contact that Anthony Markanich made on him by not-so-subtly kicking out at him and making contact with his thigh. Then, in the 39th minute, he drew contact in the box – replays weren't great, but it appeared to be Markanich — but it wasn't given.
The physicality fanned out to other parts of the field and other players before halftime, including an eyebrow-raising tackle on Mikkel Desler by Nicolás Romero that resulted in a fruitless corner. Dani Pereira got a clumsy yellow before halftime, getting a cleat to Will Trapp's leg.
But in first-half stoppage time, Wolff fed Bukari with a pass into the right channel, Bukari fired a shot at Dayne St. Clair, and though the All-Star goalkeeper got a leg deflection, it still managed to roll over the line in slow motion before a defender moving at normal speed could slide into its path.
Brad Stuver got involved early in the second half, making several deft saves, but also coming out for a ball and capturing it on the very edge of the box. (Handling it outside of the box brings a direct free kick and a potential yellow or even red card.)
Austin nearly got a second goal in the 56th minute, with Kolmanič leading Bukari and Mytro Uzuni toward goal on a break, deciding to go far post to Bukari, whose shot cleared the crossbar. Five minutes later, Pereira led a similar break downfield, giving Uzuni an opportunity, resulting in a shot hit straight at St. Clair.
A minute later, Bongokuhle Hlongwane got one the Loons' better chances of the night, hitting a close-in shot over the crossbar. Perhaps as correlation rather than causation, Jon Gallagher subbed in for Desler right after as Nico Estévez's first sub of the night.
But in the 67th, following a Pereira foul that set up a free kick at the edge of the box, Joaquin Pereyra hit his kick around Austin FC's wall and past Stuver, who looked weirdly off-balance as the ball was coming at him.
In the 83rd, after a tense and lively stretch, Estévez made two more subs, getting Guilherme Biro on for Kolmanič and Besard Šabović in for Ilie. That's how the team would stand heading into extra time.
The first stage of extra time brought a 94th-minute Uzuni chance that tested St. Clair, a 95th-minute Gallagher run that ended with Rosales not fouling him on the takeaway (at least, that's how the ref saw it), and then Diego Rubio subbing for an exhausted Bukari in the 96th.
Not much else got accomplished in the first half of extra time, save for Wolff using all the reserves in his tank and getting subbed out for CJ Fodrey; Oleksandr Svatok also went in for Đorđević.
Energy was clearly ebbing in the final 15 minutes. Rubio brought a spark and also got Pereyra to commit a yellow card foul setting up a 114th-minute free kick — albeit one with tentative build up leading to a Pereira chance followed by a Fodrey chance.
Hlongwane got a one-on-one opportunity in the 117th, but Stuver went down to save and keep up the suspense. Fodrey got his head on a Biro cross to the far post two minutes later, but couldn't get it on target.
Then, the magic at the death — with Fodrey getting a rebounded shot past St. Clair after he repelled an Uzuni attempt from the six.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
The Kolmanič and Pereira-led counters helped shift momentum and were good chances — but a goal going in on one of those might have blunted the momentum shift the other way that was coming. (Still, they foretold what would eventually happen.)
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
Oftentimes in soccer, the original poophousing foul gets missed, and the retaliatory one gets called (and, if you're really unlucky, carded). That's what happened to Bukari, distressingly early in the match.
But the Pereira foul leading to the free kick goal — which, from the way the referee was reaching in his pocket before realizing what that would have done — would have been a yellow-carded foul if he didn't already have one. (And it led to the equalizer.)
One thing you might have missed
Biro had lots of instructions to give other players as he came on.
One nerdy tidbit
About 23 minutes in, we got a mini stat dump that was welcome given that Open Cup games don't have the stats and feeds that MLS matches do. Austin had 26 final third entries to Minnesota's eight, yet were being outshot 4-1.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
Touted as one of the most important matches in Verde history, they came through with a storybook ending.
A question we have heading into the press conference
We think we know the answer, but we want to ask about selecting Fodrey for the 18 and trusting him late.
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.
Brendan Hines-Ike feels that some lessons from the most recent match against Dallas will serve Verde well in their match against the Loons. The winner, as you likely know by know, gets to host the U.S. Open Cup final.
Why is it that Austin FC, after getting a couple of wins, exhibits what one player calls "dreadful" play in the next match? That question is at the heart of the coach's and players' reflections following a loss to FC Dallas.
With a U.S. Open Cup final on the line Wednesday night, Austin FC squeezed every last bit of drama out of 120 minutes, getting a 2-1 win against Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field in the match's final seconds. Osman Bukari scored as first-half stoppage time wound to a close, Joaquin Pereyra equalized in the second half, and CJ Fodrey came through with his second game winner in a 2-1 match this month.
Austin came out matching the Loons' three-center-back, two-wingback formation, positioning Žan Kolmanič and Mikkel Desler on the outside, and putting a mix of new and old in the center back three, with summer transfer window addition Mateja Đorđević getting his second start in Verde, alongside Brendan Hines-Ike and the increasingly unutilized Julio Cascante.
Verde got off to a quick start, with Bukari getting a cross central to meet a charging Owen Wolff a little more than a minute into the match. Though the subsequent Loons takedown of Wolff in the box wasn't whistled for a PK, it certainly could have been. (We didn't even get the benefit of a replay on the broadcast to fortify any arguments for it.)
From there, though, Minnesota looked increasingly threatening, with Robin Lod getting off several shots coming close to putting the hosts up in the first 15 minutes, and one corner kick play requiring Ilie Sánchez to head away a ball that came perilously close to going in.
Loons striker Kelvin Yeboah also seemed intent on drawing a PK, getting two potential shoutouts, including a close one involving Đorđević, before the first half was halfway complete. He would eventually need to come out in the 28th minute, showing signs that he was hurt on the landing in that Đorđević play (perhaps embellished), replaced by not-a-striker Joseph Rosales.
Bukari got himself into the book in the 24th minute, retaliating for contact that Anthony Markanich made on him by not-so-subtly kicking out at him and making contact with his thigh. Then, in the 39th minute, he drew contact in the box – replays weren't great, but it appeared to be Markanich — but it wasn't given.
The physicality fanned out to other parts of the field and other players before halftime, including an eyebrow-raising tackle on Mikkel Desler by Nicolás Romero that resulted in a fruitless corner. Dani Pereira got a clumsy yellow before halftime, getting a cleat to Will Trapp's leg.
But in first-half stoppage time, Wolff fed Bukari with a pass into the right channel, Bukari fired a shot at Dayne St. Clair, and though the All-Star goalkeeper got a leg deflection, it still managed to roll over the line in slow motion before a defender moving at normal speed could slide into its path.
Brad Stuver got involved early in the second half, making several deft saves, but also coming out for a ball and capturing it on the very edge of the box. (Handling it outside of the box brings a direct free kick and a potential yellow or even red card.)
Austin nearly got a second goal in the 56th minute, with Kolmanič leading Bukari and Mytro Uzuni toward goal on a break, deciding to go far post to Bukari, whose shot cleared the crossbar. Five minutes later, Pereira led a similar break downfield, giving Uzuni an opportunity, resulting in a shot hit straight at St. Clair.
A minute later, Bongokuhle Hlongwane got one the Loons' better chances of the night, hitting a close-in shot over the crossbar. Perhaps as correlation rather than causation, Jon Gallagher subbed in for Desler right after as Nico Estévez's first sub of the night.
But in the 67th, following a Pereira foul that set up a free kick at the edge of the box, Joaquin Pereyra hit his kick around Austin FC's wall and past Stuver, who looked weirdly off-balance as the ball was coming at him.
In the 83rd, after a tense and lively stretch, Estévez made two more subs, getting Guilherme Biro on for Kolmanič and Besard Šabović in for Ilie. That's how the team would stand heading into extra time.
The first stage of extra time brought a 94th-minute Uzuni chance that tested St. Clair, a 95th-minute Gallagher run that ended with Rosales not fouling him on the takeaway (at least, that's how the ref saw it), and then Diego Rubio subbing for an exhausted Bukari in the 96th.
Not much else got accomplished in the first half of extra time, save for Wolff using all the reserves in his tank and getting subbed out for CJ Fodrey; Oleksandr Svatok also went in for Đorđević.
Energy was clearly ebbing in the final 15 minutes. Rubio brought a spark and also got Pereyra to commit a yellow card foul setting up a 114th-minute free kick — albeit one with tentative build up leading to a Pereira chance followed by a Fodrey chance.
Hlongwane got a one-on-one opportunity in the 117th, but Stuver went down to save and keep up the suspense. Fodrey got his head on a Biro cross to the far post two minutes later, but couldn't get it on target.
Then, the magic at the death — with Fodrey getting a rebounded shot past St. Clair after he repelled an Uzuni attempt from the six.
Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)
The Kolmanič and Pereira-led counters helped shift momentum and were good chances — but a goal going in on one of those might have blunted the momentum shift the other way that was coming. (Still, they foretold what would eventually happen.)
Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)
Oftentimes in soccer, the original poophousing foul gets missed, and the retaliatory one gets called (and, if you're really unlucky, carded). That's what happened to Bukari, distressingly early in the match.
But the Pereira foul leading to the free kick goal — which, from the way the referee was reaching in his pocket before realizing what that would have done — would have been a yellow-carded foul if he didn't already have one. (And it led to the equalizer.)
One thing you might have missed
Biro had lots of instructions to give other players as he came on.
One nerdy tidbit
About 23 minutes in, we got a mini stat dump that was welcome given that Open Cup games don't have the stats and feeds that MLS matches do. Austin had 26 final third entries to Minnesota's eight, yet were being outshot 4-1.
Where this fits into the season's narrative
Touted as one of the most important matches in Verde history, they came through with a storybook ending.
A question we have heading into the press conference
We think we know the answer, but we want to ask about selecting Fodrey for the 18 and trusting him late.
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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