Ruben Gabrielsen scored off a save and rebound in the 13th minute, and Austin FC came away with a 2-1 road victory over Los Angeles FC, the top team in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference, on Wednesday night.
Diego Fagundez scored an all-important second goal in the 80th minute off a long ball from Sebastian Driussi, taking it himself on a 2-on-1. It was difference maker for the visitors, as Carlos Vela converted a penalty kick in the 86th minute to tighten the match.
There was six minutes of extra time that Austin FC had to survived. The upstart Texans improved to 7-3-2 with 23 points, catching Los Angeles in a tie for first in the West, one point ahead of FC Dallas.
Gabrielsen’s goal preceded back-to-back saves from Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver, who came out of the net to stop hard shots in the 17th minute.
Stuver had six saves for the match. Austin ended a three-match losing streak to LAFC.
The first half saw more near misses from LAFC, a few hard fouls and a collision near the Austin net between Stuver and an onrushing Danny Musovski of LAFC just before halftime. Both played on.
LAFC had four shots on goal in the first half. They had their home unbeaten streak end at six matches.
The home side was again the better offensive team in the second half, as LAFC had more scoring chances. Cristian Arango put a move on his defender to get off a shot that was blocked in front of Stuver in the 65th minute.
–Field Level Media