Austin FC traveled north to Minnesota for the second time this season to take on Minnesota United FC, hoping to match their win from last month. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case as the Verde & Black lost 2-0 on Wednesday at Allianz Field.
Nick Lima had to leave the match early in the 9th minute after suffering an apparent leg injury. Hector Jimenez replaced him at right back. Shortly after, Minnesota scored the opening goal of the match after Loons right back Romain Metanire got behind the ATXFC defense and played a pullback to Franco Fragapane. The winger finished in the top corner to give his team an early lead.
Austin answered with a big chance of their own in the 14th minute after Jimenez got free down the right-hand side and played a quality ball to Tomas Pochettino. The Argentine’s touch got him past the Minnesota defense but MNUFC ‘keeper Tyler Miller was able to make a kick save to preserve his team’s lead.
Unfortunately, Minnesota pounced on their opportunity to expand their lead in the 18th minute as Fragapane’s corner kick ended up on the head of Adrien Hunou, who finished past Brad Stuver to put the Loons up 2-0.
Diego Fagundez almost found an opener for Austin in the 31st minute, but his shot from deep was saved by a diving Miller. The Loons took a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Austin’s best chance to put a goal on the scoresheet came in the 59th minute when Fagundez tiptoed along the endline and played a pullback. Minnesota defender Bakaye Dibassy pinged his clearance off his own post, almost conceding an own goal. The Verde & Black pushed for the rest of the second but couldn’t get find the goal they needed to get back into the game.,
THREE THINGS
- INJURY BUG:
- With multiple players already on the injured list, Wednesday's match added a few more. Alex Ring was forced to out of the match before it even started -- with Sebastian Berhalter replacing him -- and Nick Lima left the match very early on.
- NEW STARTS:
- With three matches in nine days, it’s not a surprise that Josh Wolff chose to rotate his squad a bit. Aedan Stanley and Manny Perez were handed their first starts for the Verde & Black with Stanley starting at left back and Perez at striker.
- Q2 STADIUM AWAITS:
- While Austin did get to open up Q2 Stadium last Saturday, this match was the ninth one on the road in a season that is just ten matches old. The Verde & Black will get to play their next four -- and six of the next seven -- at home as the stretch of fixtures at Q2 Stadium starts on Sunday against Columbus Crew SC.
