For the first time in over two months, Austin FC fans got to celebrate a Verde and Black victory at Q2 Stadium, and a pivotal one at that.
ATXFC knocked off their Bay Area rivals, the San Jose Earthquakes, by a score of 3-1 in a result that saw El Tree surge from ninth to seventh in the Western Conference playoffs standings, leapfrogging San Jose in the process.
Here are our takeaways from the match:
Cohesive Attack
All season long, Austin FC has struggled to display consistent chemistry in the attacking third of the field. Its frontline players, while talented, haven’t often complemented each other to great effect.
There was plenty of that, however, against the Quakes. All three of the club’s goals featured the kind of connectivity that head coach Nico Estévez has surely been dying to see more of on the pitch.
For the opener in the 12th minute, Owen Wolff continued his stellar campaign, leading a Verde breakaway and assisting Osman Bukari with a perfect line-breaking pass that Bukari surgically finished off.
Then, in the 33rd minute, Bukari capitalized on a San Jose mistake, drove full-throttle toward the Earthquakes goal, then made the correct decision to find Myrto Uzuni storming in at the back post for a tap-in.
And finally, ATX killed the game off in the 77th minute with another Wolff-to-Bukari breakaway. This time, Bukari once again attempted to find a teammate – Diego Rubio – at the far post, but San Jose defender Bruno Wilson did the honors himself, knocking the ball in for an own goal.
All three Austin goals came in transition moments, where the club has been most dangerous all season. It’s something Estévez and his club should lean into as much as possible through the closing months of the season.
Learning From Mistakes
Prior to Saturday, the last time Austin FC took a 2-0 into the halftime locker room at Q2 Stadium, it proceeded to watch that lead evaporate in what became a 2-2 draw versus the Houston Dynamo on August 9.
The Verde and Black were careful not to let the same thing happen against San Jose.
“We talked at halftime, we’re coming from an experience against Houston where we weren’t happy how we ended the game,” Estévez said. “We all make mistakes before [we] learn about it. And I think we used that game as an example. We talked also about, if we concede a goal, we cannot get crazy, we cannot panic.”
Concede a goal Austin FC did, off a set piece seven minutes into the second half, but panic the club did not. ATX stayed mostly compact and patient, hunting that moment to spring on the counter attack and score the third goal.
Of course, this was an Austin FC game, meaning Brad Stuver was still called upon to make some vital saves (four, to be exact). In this match, Stuver became just the second goalkeeper in MLS history to eclipse 600 saves in a five-year period, joining former U.S. international Tony Meola.
Changing Things Up
After utilizing the same basic 4-4-2 structure for the club’s previous six matches, it was exciting to see Estévez revamp to a more fluid formation that essentially amounted to a 4-3-3 on offense, and five in the back on defense.
Not only that, Estévez tabbed U-22 midfielder Nico Dubersarsky to start for just the third time in MLS play, and first since May. The Argentine rewarded his coach by causing the turnover that led directly to the breakaway ahead of the opening goal.
Estévez also moved Wolff from the left wing to a more central role in the attacking midfield in place of Rubio, giving the club’s creative engine more room to operate. Yeah, more of that, please.
For more Austin FC news and analysis, visit The Austin Chronicle‘s Austin FC hub. Follow The Verde Report columnist Eric Goodman on X: @goodman.
