Thursday night’s 2-0 Austin FC win over Tijuana in the Leagues Cup opener could have fooled you in a few ways, if you didn’t know better.
You might have been fooled into thinking that Austin FC was the class of Major League Soccer, as opposed to a bottom-five club. You might have been fooled into thinking that the teenaged midfield phenom destined for an imminent multimillion dollar transfer to Europe was Austin’s Ervin Torres, as opposed to Tijuana’s Gilberto Mora. And you might have been fooled into thinking that Davy Arnaud was in his fourth or fifth season as Austin FC head coach spearheading a tried-and-true system, as opposed to an interim coach yet to see much in the way of results from his tactical changes since Nico Estévez’s departure.
It was as if the start of a fresh competition against unfamiliar opposition, and the chance to play at Q2 Stadium, was exactly what the Verde and Black needed for things to finally click. Particularly, Arnaud’s dedication to playing inverted wingers – left-footed Joseph Rosales on the right and right-footed Jon Gallagher on the left – worked like a charm after seeming like a lost cause less than a week earlier.
Rosales was everywhere for Austin FC, including on the scoresheet in the 16th minute. The Honduran made a smart run into the box behind Tijuana’s defense that Myrto Uzuni, who had dropped deep into midfield, spotted and delivered a perfect ball over the top. Rosales took one touch then fired a shot with his inside left foot into the far corner for one of ATXFC’s finest goals of the season.
On the other flank, Gallagher nearly doubled the Verde lead in the 31st minute if not for an acrobatic save from Xolos goalkeeper Antonio Rodríguez. But the Irishman got another chance in the box just before the halftime whistle that he converted beautifully, recovering a deflected Torres pass and using his weaker left foot to surprise Rodríguez with a shot into the bottom corner of the goal.
“I had the pretty big chance a couple minutes before that, I thought the goalie made a good save, and it just felt like when the world’s against you, it’s not going well,” Gallagher said. “It’s been a really tough few weeks for me and my family, so that goal meant a lot more than just, you know, scoring. It was special for me.”
The home team nearly stepped in some big trouble less than a minute into the second half when center back Oleksandr Svatok was initially shown a second yellow card for a violent tackle against Tijuana winger Adonis Preciado and was given his marching orders by referee Reon Radix. However, a VAR review showed that the contact on Preciado actually came from behind by Svatok’s teammate Mateja Djordjevic, who was thrilled to take the yellow card (his first of the match) instead of Svatok. The closest that Mora came to impacting the match was on the ensuing free kick, which he narrowly curled wide of Brad Stuver’s goal.
The yellow card switcharoo was the first of three major refereeing moments in the second half that benefited Verde and Black. Defender Alan Vega appeared to halve the Xolos deficit in the 66th minute, but that goal was disallowed after a lengthy VAR review determined that Preciado impacted the build-up of the goal from an offside position. And in the ensuing protestation from irate Tijuana players, midfielder Iván Tona was shown a straight red card for – per Apple TV commentators – making physical contact with the referee.
Tijuana being reduced to 10 men made things fairly comfortable for Austin FC to close out a result that puts the club immediately in the fight for advancement to the Leagues Cup knockout stage.
“We love these games. The players love these games. It’s a really cool, great competition to be a part of,” Arnaud said. “It kind of was a fresh start for us, right? Where everything’s starting at zero again, and it gives us a really good opportunity to progress.”
It’s still a tall task with 18 MLS clubs fighting for just four quarterfinal spots, especially considering 10 of those clubs scored wins in their opening games. ATXFC will have to win at least one, and likely both, of its remaining two Phase One matches to advance.
The club takes on Puebla Sunday night, followed by Club América on August 13 to close out the opening round of Leagues Cup.
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.
