Austin FC Suffers Disappointing Home Loss Against LA Galaxy

It’s all nice and dandy that Austin FC punched above its weight in its previous two matches, holding MLS Cup contenders LAFC and Inter Miami CF to draws. But if you can’t then translate those efforts to wins against equal-to-lesser opposition in your home stadium, then what have you proven, really?

That’s the question ATXFC fans were asking themselves as they filed out of Q2 Stadium Saturday afternoon following a discouraging 2-1 loss to the LA Galaxy. Myrto Uzuni’s half-volleyed goal in the 85th minute, sweet as it was, served merely as window dressing against a lackluster Verde and Black performance.

Perhaps things might’ve been different if the hosts had capitalized on the first goalscoring chance of the match in the third minute. Uzuni found his strike partner, Christian Ramirez, in the 18-yard box with one man to beat. Ramirez cut inside to his left foot and fired a shot to the bottom corner, surely thinking he must’ve scored against the club that unceremoniously released him a day before the start of the MLS season back in February. But Galaxy keeper JT Marcinkowski dove quickly to his left to parry the shot.

For much of the remainder of the match, the Galaxy allowed Austin to possess the ball, which has ironically been when Nico Estévez’s club has been at its least dangerous all season.

Estévez said his club lacked “urgency and ruthlessness when we had the ball.” On the defensive side, a couple of uncharacteristic errors caught up with them.

The first came off a Galaxy corner kick in the 34th minute, which should have been dealt with via a relatively routine punch by goalkeeper Brad Stuver. Instead, Stuver went with open gloves to catch the ball, but missed it when contact came from LA midfielder Lucas Sanabria (not enough contact, however, to warrant a foul call by referee Tori Penso). As a result, the ball fell to veteran LA center back Maya Yoshida for a simple headed finish.

“It’s crazy that in real time three referees can’t see it, VAR can’t see it, and apparently you can just run through the opposing goalkeeper without trying for the ball,” a fuming Stuver told WAATV in the locker room postgame.

The Galaxy effectively put the game to bed in the 78th minute thanks to a surgical counter attack strike from Eric Thommy. How he found himself alone in space down the Verde right side, and why center back Oleksandr Svatok failed to put any pressure on Thommy as he lined up his shot, were the subject of some ATX confusion.

“The second goal [was], I think, something that we didn’t defend well, and something that we have to look at why that situation happened,” Estévez said.

Uzuni’s goal off a late ATX corner kick brought some excitement back to the closing moments, but ultimately the best Austin FC even could’ve hoped for was a lucky draw at home against a team that played in the CONCACAF Champions Cup three days earlier. And that is simply not good enough.

And now it’s Austin that has to gear up for some tight turnarounds, with four matches scheduled over the next two weeks. The first comes Tuesday night away against USL Championship squad Louisville City, as ATXFC looks to begin another run in the U.S. Open Cup. The club reached the final of the same tournament a year ago.

For more Austin FC news and analysis, visit The Austin Chronicle’s Austin FC hub. Sign up for The Verde Report newsletter to get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox, and follow The Verde Report columnist Eric Goodman on X: @goodman.

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