Austin FC began its 2022 Major League Soccer season in historic style on Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Q2 Stadium, beating FC Cincinnati 5-0 in a performance highlighted by two goals from Cecilio Domínguez and a clean sheet. The result will go down in the history books as the largest margin of victory ever recorded on MLS Opening Day. The match also marked the Club’s 18th consecutive MLS home sell-out, extending the league’s longest active sell-out streak.
It was a dream start to the match for the Verde & Black as Head Coach Josh Wolff’s team scored twice in the opening 15 minutes. Domínguez popped up at the back post to start the scoring in the second minute after a free kick from Žan Kolmanič made it through a crowd of bodies untouched, and Alex Ring added another goal 12 minutes later with a volley that bounced over Cincinnati goalkeeper Alec Kann.
Sebastián Driussi increased Austin’s lead to three before the break, dropping his shoulder to evade his defender after receiving a pass from Diego Fagundez inside the 18 and beating Kann with a powerful strike. The Argentine then turned provider in the second half, setting up Domínguez for his second and ATXFC’s fourth goal of the night.
From there, Austin set up shop. The latter stages of the match saw one defensive debutant replace another as Ruben Gabrielsen came on for Kipp Keller, and four other offseason arrivals also saw their first minutes in Verde & Black: Maxi Urruti as a starter, and Ethan Finlay, Jhojan Valencia, and Felipe Martins as substitutes.
A resolute team defensive performance saw Cincinnati register just two shots on goal, and a bit of brilliant play from Moussa Djitté forced an own goal from Kann in stoppage time to wrap up a wonderful result to kick off the 2022 season for Austin FC.
THREE THINGS
- HISTORIC NIGHT: On the first day of the 2022 MLS Regular Season, Austin FC made Club and league history with the largest margin of victory ever seen on MLS Opening Day.
- QUICK STARTS: The Verde & Black are making scoring early a habit. In the Club’s final home match of 2021, Sebastián Driussi scored in the first minute, and Cecilio Domínguez scored in the second minute of the team’s first match of 2022.
- SPLENDID FROM SET PIECES: Austin FC capitalized on multiple set pieces in the match, scoring first from a free kick and then from a corner kick in the first half.
UP NEXT
Austin FC will play its second consecutive home match to open its 2022 Major League Soccer season against Inter Miami CF on Sunday, March 6. The match will feature a national TV broadcast in English language on ESPN and in Spanish language on ESPN Deportes. On radio, the match will be broadcast on KASE-FM (ALT 97.5) in English, as well as on TUDN Radio Austin (104.3-HD2, KLQB) in Spanish.
