Rigoni, Driussi End Goal Drought but Austin FC Still Winless in Six

Q2 Stadium celebrates Emiliano Rigoni's first goal as an Austin FC player (credit: Austin FC)

Despite a holy grail of a goal involving both Rodney Redes and Emiliano Rigoni, along with Sebastián Driussi’s second score of the season, Austin FC could only manage another draw at home, 2-2 against the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday night. The draw extended Austin’s winless streak to six games.

The Verde and Black entered the night riding a 355-minute scoreless drought across four games, and nearly crossed the 400-minute mark in the first half. On the opposite end of the pitch, a combination of Swiss-cheese ATX defense and a surgical finish by Earthquakes midfielder Jackson Yueill put the visitors up 1-0 after 20 minutes.

In the 40th minute, Austin FC got its equalizer from the unlikeliest of combos. Dani Pereira initiated the play with a long ball into the penalty box where Redes – making his first MLS start since July 31, 2021 – rose up to head the ball back across the face of goal. Arriving at the exact right time and place to slam the ball into the roof of the net was Rigoni, the club’s much-maligned designated player, to score his first goal in Verde.

A possible breakthrough moment for the Argentine? “I hope so,” head coach Josh Wolff said. “I’ve used him in some different places to try to get him in better areas… I’m glad he was able to contribute in a few ways.”

The goal sparked a strong stretch of play for ATX into the second half, registering seven unanswered shots. But in the 75th minute, the Earthquakes converted on their first shot attempt of the half as Jeremy Ebobisse scored his fourth career goal against Austin FC, leaping over a flat-footed Nick Lima and heading the ball off the bottom of the crossbar and in.

Lima quickly made amends, though, providing an accurate pass into Austin FC’s penalty box that Leo Väisänen headed off the post. Driussi swooped in to fire home the rebound and equalize for the hosts, his second goal of the year and first since February’s season opener.

Rigoni had a chance late on the breakaway – thanks to an X-ray vision through ball from Pereira – but took a poor angle toward goal and fired a shot high and wide. After a hard foul on Driussi and an ensuing brouhaha in stoppage time, the referee’s whistle solidified a 2-2 draw.

“It’s disappointing. Ties at home are tough,” Wolff said. “But progress was made.”

Austin FC will hope that the pair of goals, the only two scored by the club in the month of April, leads to an avalanche of goals in May, starting with a road test against the Portland Timbers next weekend. With several key players nearing a return to action from injury, perhaps El Tree is finally through the worst of its struggles.

For more Austin FC news and analysis, visit The Austin Chronicle's Austin FC hub. Follow “The Verde Report” columnist Eric Goodman on Twitter: @goodman.