How much difference can 15 weeks make? Austin FC’s eye-popping performance in its sophomore season opener would make you wonder.
On a cold, misty early evening at Q2 Stadium, the Verde returned to action with a dominant, at times gaudy, 5-0 victory against – and this cannot be emphasized enough – the very worst competition Major League Soccer can offer, FC Cincinnati.
El Tree’s three DPs ran wild on the hapless visitors, combining for four of the five goals. Cecilio Domínguez bagged the first and the fourth to start his 2022 campaign with a brace, and Alex Ring and Sebastián Driussi chipped in one a piece in between. Moussa Djitté, a late sub into the match, forced an own goal in the final minute to cap off the most lopsided victory in the history of the club.
“I think tonight was as collective an effort as I’ve seen this group probably put together,” coach Josh Wolff said at the post-match press conference while onlookers serenaded him with the “Happy Birthday” song (he turned 45 the day prior). “Combine the fact that we got five goals in a variety of ways and, again, pitched a shutout, was great to see.”
The opportunities for numbers fun are everywhere. The five goals were as many as Austin FC scored in its first seven matches to start the 2021 season, and they represent 1/8 of the total goals scored in the club’s history. The margin of victory was the largest ever in any season opener in the 27-year history of MLS. Finally, after being made to wait 208 excruciating minutes for the first score at Q2 in 2021, the bundled up Verde faithful had to sit through just 115 seconds before Domínguez started things off from a Žan Kolmanič free kick.
Ring caught enough of a Nick Lima cross in the 14th minute to double the Verde lead, then had a hand in perhaps the prettiest team goal the club will score all season just before halftime. Consecutive back-heel passes from Driussi and Ring sprung Diego Fagundez into open space in the box, who further cut up the Cincy defense by threading a pass back to Driussi, who fired his shot past Alec Kann into the south end goal. Six touches total is all it took to produce the kind of soccer rarely seen by even the top-spending Champions League giants of Europe.
Austin with the beautiful fútbol. 👌 pic.twitter.com/ihQ1mJNXco
— Austin FC (@AustinFC) February 26, 2022
“I was really happy about that goal. I think we played really well tonight and that was the icing on the cake,” Ring said. “It’s something we see a lot in practice and when that comes out on game day on the field it feels even better.”
Yeah, I’m sure you do, Alex. Regardless, the goal gave Austin FC a comfortable 3-0 lead going into halftime and the chance to get plenty of new faces into the fold.
After Maxi Urruti and rookie center back Kipp Keller made their Verde debuts in the starting lineup, four more newcomers – Ruben Gabrielsen, Ethan Finlay, Jhojan Valencia, and Felipe Martins – got in on the action as substitutes, illustrating the beefed-up war chest Wolff has at his disposal this time round.
“The quality in the group and depth is much different. It’s much different,” Wolff said. “That’s something that’s going to push this group along in a way we did not have last year.”
Driussi found his way in behind the Cincinnati defense in the 61st minute then fed Domínguez for the empty-net finish and goal number four. Then, seconds before the final whistle, Djitté deployed some sorcery to force Kann into an own goal to put the slash through the tally marks.
Again: FC Cincinnati is terrible – 14 wins in 91 MLS matches since joining the league – and it was something worse than terrible Saturday night. But still, the record-setting margin is sure to turn heads across the league in the direction of Austin. A chance, maybe, to put the league on notice that Austin FC has leveled up?
“In the end, it’s just three points. You know? First game of the season,” Ring said. “Now it’s just [about] finding that consistency and, you know, keep winning games.”
The club can do exactly that on Sunday, March 6, when it takes on another recent expansion cautionary tale in Inter Miami FC, 3pm CT, at Q2 Stadium.
Read more Austin FC coverage – including Eric Goodman’s weekly column, “The Verde Report” – at austinchronicle.com/austin-fc. Follow him on Twitter: @goodman. To get game recaps, news, and analysis delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe at austinchronicle.com/newsletters.
This article appears in February 25 • 2022.
