CARSON, Calif — Austin FC is kicking off its fifth match of the 2021 Major League Soccer (MLS) season Saturday against LA Galaxy.
Final: Austin FC 0, LA Galaxy 2
Austin FC lost its third match of the season after dropping 2-0 to the LA Galaxy. Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver was tested early in the match with a huge save on a penalty kick from Chicharito after Jhohan Romana was a called for a foul in the penalty area. Austin FC would concede the first goal a few minutes later though after Sebastian Lletget got behind the back line and finished a one-on-one right-footed shot around Stuver.
Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez put the game away in the 76th minute with a right-footed goal off a cross played from the right wing. Chicharito's goal was his seventh of the 2021 season, which leads Major League Soccer (MLS).
Kekuta Manneh filled in for Jared Stroud in the 59th minute and immediately made an impact on the Austin FC attack, putting two shots on goal within his first 10 minutes of time on the pitch.
"I think [Manneh] had a couple of good chances," Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff said. "I think Kekuta is one of those individual players that's unbalancing. He brought energy and he certainly brings the ability to get after guys 1v1. His contributions were obvious."
Wolff said the loss was disappointing, but ultimately it is about evolving and learning. He said the team, generally, lacked energy in the first half. Wolff said that through five games, he sees when they stick to the club's philosophies, they can be dangerous.
"I think we're all disappointed, we lost the game," Wolff said. "We have expectations of what every week is going to look like and what this whole year will look like so there's going to be plenty of moments that we're on the right side of it and there's going to be plenty of moments where we don't get the result that we want. It's about evolving, it's about learning."
Matt Besler, who wore the captain's armband in place of the missing Alex Ring, said the parity of the MLS shows is proof enough that the club can't get too discouraged with back-to-back losses.
"In this league, anyone can beat anyone on any given day," Besler said. "I didn't come here to just play. I came here to win. I saw the ambition that the club has. From the very first conversations it was clear that this club wants to win and they want to win now."
Hector Jimenez started in place of Nick Lima at right back, but went down early due to an injury. The extent of his injury was unknown Saturday, but Jimenez needed to be carted off, and Nick Lima was subbed into that spot in the first half.
Austin FC also announced 30 minutes prior to kickoff that Jon Gallagher did not make the trip to Los Angeles due to an injury. The club said he was being assessed by training staff and an update on his condition is expected early next week.
With the loss, Austin FC has six points with a 2-3-0 record (win-loss-draw) in five matches. Austin FC will play Nashville SC next on Sunday, May 23. The match against Nashville SC will be broadcast nationally on FS1 and on radio locally in Austin on ALT 97.5 FM (English) and in Spanish on TUDN Radio Austin (104.3-HD2, KLQB).
STATS
Shots (on goal): Austin FC 15(2), LA Galaxy 16(4)
Fouls: Austin FC 9, LA Galaxy 10
Yellow Cards: Austin FC 0, LA Galaxy 0
Red Cards: Austin FC 0, LA Galaxy 0
Offside: Austin FC 2, LA Galaxy 3
Corners: Austin FC 5, LA Galaxy 5
Saves: Austin FC 2, LA Galaxy 2
Major League Soccer standings are ranked like the following: teams get three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss. In the event of a tie in the standings, the tiebreaker goes to:
- Total number of wins
- Goal differential (goals scored/for minus goals against)
- Goals For (the amount of goals scored by team)
- Fewest Disciplinary Points* (calculated: Foul - 1 Point, Technical Area Warning - 2 Points, Yellow Card - 3 Points, 2nd Yellow Card - 7 Points, Straight Red Card - 7 Points, Coach Dismissal - 7 Points, Any Supplemental Discipline - 8 Points)
- Away Goals Differential
- Away Goals For
- Home Goals Differential
- Home Goals For
- Coin Toss (tie of two clubs) or Drawing of Lots (tie of three or more clubs)
Note: Records below are recorded as (win, loss, draw)
Western Conference:
- Seattle Sounders FC – 16 pts, 5-0-1, +11 goal differential
- LA Galaxy – 12 pts, 4-1-0, +2 goal differential
- Sporting Kansas City – 10 pts, 3-2-1, +2 goal differential
- Colorado Rapids – 10 pts, 3-1-1, +2 goal differential
- San Jose Earthquakes – 9 pts, 3-3-0, +2 goal differential
- Houston Dynamo FC – 8 pts, 2-2-2, -1 goal differential
- Real Salt Lake – 7 pts, 2-1-1, +2 goal differential
- Vancouver Whitecaps FC – 7 pts, 2-3-1, -2 goal differential
- Portland Timbers – 6 pts, 2-3-0, -2 goal differential
- Austin FC – 6 pts, 2-3-0, -2 goal differential
- Minnesota United FC – 6 pts, 2-4-0, -5 goal differential
- FC Dallas – 5 pts, 1-2-2, 0 goal differential
- Los Angeles FC – 5 pts, 1-2-2, -1 goal differential
Eastern Conference:
- New England Revolution – 11 pts, 3-1-2, +1 goal differential
- Orlando City SC – 9 pts, 2-0-3, +4 goal differential
- New York City FC – 8 pts, 2-1-2, +6 goal differential
- Atlanta United FC – 8 pts, 2-1-2, +2 goal differential
- CF Montréal – 8 pts, 2-2-2, +1 goal differential
- Philadelphia Union – 8 pts, 2-2-2, 0 goal differential
- Inter Miami CF – 8 pts, 2-2-2, -1 goal differential
- Nashville SC – 7 pts, 1-0-4, +2 goal differential
- New York Red Bulls – 6 pts, 2-3-0, +1 goal differential
- D.C. United – 6 pts, 2-4-0, -5 goal differential
- Columbus Crew – 5 pts, 1-2-2, -1 goal differential
- Toronto FC – 5 pts, 1-2-2, -2 goal differential
- Chicago Fire – 1 pt, 0-4-1, -7 goal differential
- FC Cincinnati – 1 pt, 0-3-1, -9 goal differential
2nd half
Austin FC 0, LA Galaxy 2
90' + 4': Game is over. LA Galaxy wins 2-0.
88': Austin FC corner: Cleared by LA Galaxy.
85': LA Galaxy substitution: Ethan Zubak comes on for Chicharito.
80': Cecilio Domínguez (Austin FC) right-footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
76': Chicharito (LA Galaxy) scores a right-footed goal on a cross played from the right wing.
70': LA Galaxy/Austin FC substitutions: Aedan Stanley comes on for Zan Kolmanic (Austin FC). Nicholas DePuy replaces Samuel Grandsir. Adam Saldaña replaces Efraín Álvarez. (LA Galaxy)
69': After a cross was played into the center of the field, Kekuta Manneh (Austin FC) left-footed shot was blocked by the LA Galaxy defense.
65': Kekuta Manneh (Austin FC) right-footed shot from outside of the penalty area narrowly misses the top-right corner of the goal.
62': LA Galaxy substitution: Kévin Cabral comes on for Sebastian Lletget.
60': Austin FC corner: Cleared by LA Galaxy.
59': Austin FC substitutions: Kekuta Manneh on for Danny Hoesen. Rodney Redes on for Jared Stroud. Sebastian Berhalter on for Diego Fagundez.
57': LA Galaxy corner: Cleared by Austin FC.
56': Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy) right-footed shot was deflected for a corner kick.
52': Chicharito (LA Galaxy) header from the right side of the six-yard box is too high.
51': LA Galaxy corner: Cleared by Austin FC.
50': Derrick Williams (LA Galaxy) header from the center of the box misses to the left.
49': LA Galaxy corner: Cleared by Austin FC.
46': Second half is kicked off.
Halftime: Austin FC 0, LA Galaxy 1
Brad Stuver was tested early again, making a save in the first two minutes of the game. Stuver made a huge save on a penalty kick from Chicharito after Jhohan Romana was a called for a foul in the penalty area.
Austin FC would concede the first goal a few minutes later though after Sebastian Lletget got behind the back line and finished a one-on-one right-footed shot around Stuver.
STATS
Shots (on goal): Austin FC 7(1), LA Galaxy 10(3)
Fouls: Austin FC 5, LA Galaxy 5
Yellow Cards: Austin FC 0, LA Galaxy 0
Red Cards: Austin FC 0, LA Galaxy 0
Offside: Austin FC 1, LA Galaxy 1
Corners: Austin FC 3, LA Galaxy 2
Saves: Austin FC 2, LA Galaxy 1
1st half
Austin FC 0, LA Galaxy 1
45': Austin FC corner: Cleared by LA Galaxy.
44': Dominguez (Austin FC) right-footed shot is deflected for an Austin FC corner.
38': Hector Jimenez was carted off on a stretcher after the play on the goal. Nick Lima was substituted on for Jimenez.
34': Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy) scores a right-footed goal after getting behind the defense on a pass played over the top.
25': LA Galaxy penalty kick: Chicharito's penalty was saved by Brad Stuver.
24': LA Galaxy is awarded a penalty kick after a foul in the penalty area by Jhohan Romana.
24': Jared Stroud (Austin FC) right-footed shot is saved.
22': Austin FC corner: Played short into the corner of the field and leads to a right-footed shot from Daniel Pereira that was high over the crossbar.
19': LA Galaxy corner: Cleared by Austin FC.
18': Alvarez (LA Galaxy) left-footed shot from inside the penalty area deflected for a corner.
15': Danny Hoesen (Austin FC) header from the center of the box misses to the left.
12': Austin FC corner: Played short and then into the box, which was deflected outside of the penalty area. Then a right-footed shot was blocked.
8': Dominguez (Austin FC) plays a free kick into the penalty area, which is cleared away by LA Galaxy.
7': Chicharito (LA Galaxy) left-footed shot from the center of the box was too high.
2': Samuel Grandsir (LA Galaxy) right-footed shot from the left side of the box is saved by Brad Stuver.
1': The match is kicked off.
Here is everything you need to know about the match:
Pregame
Austin FC announced its starting XI: Brad Stuver; Jhohan Romana, Matt Besler, Hector Jimenez, Zan Kolmanic; Tomas Pochettino, Diego Fagundez, Daniel Pereira; Jared Stroud, Danny Hoesen, and Cecilio Dominguez.
Austin FC announced half an hour prior to kickoff that Jon Gallagher did not make the trip to Los Angeles due to an injury. The club said he was being assessed by training staff and an update on his condition is expected early next week.
LA Galaxy announced its starting XI: Jonathan Bond; Julian Araujo, Derrick Williams, Daniel Steres, Jorge Villafaña; Jonathan dos Santos, Carlos Harvey; Samuel Grandsir, Sebastian Lletget, Efrain Alvarez; Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez
Kickoff time
The game will kick off at 2:30 p.m. CST Saturday, May 15, at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
How to watch
- AustinFC.com and the Austin FC & Q2 Stadium app (click here for availability)
- iOS: http://austinisverde.co/ios.
- Android: http://austinisverde.co/android.
- Note: iOS devices can cast the livestream to Apple TV, and Android to Chromecast.
- @TUDNUSA (Twitter)
How to listen
- ALT 97.5 FM (radio)
- iHeartRadio (online)
Preview
Austin FC makes its second trip to Los Angeles in the club's debut season, this time to take on LA Galaxy. Austin FC's MLS debut ended with a 2-0 loss to LAFC last month.
RELATED: HIGHLIGHTS: Austin FC playing a man down from red card, let up 2 goals in second half, lose 2-1
Austin FC enters Saturday's match after its second loss of the season, falling 2-1 to Sporting KC after taking a 1-0 lead in the first half. Austin FC will be without captain Alex Ring, who is suspended for the game after getting a red card in the second half of the match versus Sporting KC. Jared Stroud recorded an assist for a second consecutive game in the Sporting KC match. Stroud had two assists in 20 appearances in his first MLS season last year with the New York Red Bulls.
LA Galaxy enters the match after beating the crosstown rival and common opponent, LAFC, 2-1. LA Galaxy's star player, Javier "Chicarito" Hernández, leads the league with six goals in four matches this season. Chicharito has also been involved in seven of the eight goals scored by the Galaxy this season.
Austin FC and the LA Galaxy are meeting for the first time in their histories. They are also scheduled to play Sept. 28 at Q2 Stadium in Austin.
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