A late strike from Danny Musovski saw Los Angeles FC defeat Austin FC 2-1 on Wednesday night at Q2 Stadium.
ATXFC looked to have found the perfect start just three minutes in. Cecilio Dominguez played in Sebastián Driussi, who beat LAFC goalkeeper Tomas Romero with a clever low finish only to see the assistant referee’s flag come up after Dominguez wandered offside earlier in the play.
Brad Stuver made a quality save in the 24th minute to deny MLS Player of the Week Cristian Arango, getting down quickly to keep out a powerful close-range effort from the Colombian.
But Arango would get his goal in the second half when, with the help of VAR, the referee ruled that a cross hit Diego Fagundez’s arm and awarded LAFC a penalty kick. The in-form striker coolly converted from the spot in the 59th minute, tallying his fifth goal in four straight matches.
It wasn’t long before better luck found Fagundez. Eight minutes after Austin FC fell behind, Alex Ring created space for Dominguez with a through ball. Dominguez’s shot caromed off the post and fell to Fagundez, who put away the rebound to bring ATXFC back on level terms.
Austin had a golden chance to take the lead in the 79th minute, but Ring’s shot dribbled inches wide of the post. LAFC substitute Musovski then broke in behind the ATXFC defense to restore the visitors’ advantage in the 81st minute, sealing the three points for LAFC.
THREE THINGS
- A CENTURY OF SAVES: Stuver’s stop to deny Arango in the 24th minute was his 100th save for ATXFC, a landmark achievement in what has been a strong season for the veteran goalkeeper.
- DIEGOL: Diego Fagundez’s goal was his sixth of the year, breaking a tie with Dominguez to make the 26-year-old Uruguayan the team’s leading scorer.
- CALI CALLING: Wednesday night’s match was the first of a three-game homestand for the Verde & Black, all against opponents from California. Austin will welcome both the San Jose Earthquakes and the LA Galaxy to Q2 Stadium in the next 10 days, against whom it drew and lost respectively earlier this season.
QUOTABLES
- Wolff on the performance and result: “We certainly grabbed some momentum and there were some things that were working well. The three points could have been there. We had a couple of chances, the one that scraped by the post certainly after we grabbed the equalizer.”
- Lima on the impact of Brad Stuver: “From the beginning, he’s come in and been one of our best players, if not our best player, our most consistent. He’s a leader on and off the field. I think it just comes from him as a person. He goes in, and you know what you’re going to get from him at the back. He was a strength for us at the beginning of the year and continues to be, but it would be nice if we could give him back what he’s done and get the results that we deserve.”
- Wolff on recent fixture congestion: “We’ll always need freshness. Three games in seven days and this is the third of it. We’ll take a look at San Jose in a little bit more detail as well in the next 24 to 36 hours and try to come up with a good strategy and obviously good personnel that can grab a result.”
