AUSTIN, TEXAS – APRIL 11: Ilie Sanchez #6 of Austin FC falls over Edwin Cerrillo #6 of LA Galaxy after heading a ball during the first half of a match at Q2 Stadium on April 11, 2026 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Scott Wachter/Getty Images)
Scott Wachter/Getty Images
Lackluster. Subpar. Poor.
Whatever unflattering adjective one wants to use to describe Austin FC for most of the first 80 minutes Saturday wouldn’t be wrong.
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Looking puzzled in possession with no clear plan of an attack, the Verde & Black turned in a baffling performance. And while they weren’t necessarily a no-show for most of the match, they weren’t far off.
Despite a frenetic push the final 10 minutes, when Myrto Uzuni scored the team’s goal, Austin FC still ended up with a 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy at Q2 Stadium.
“Everything that happened today was on us,” Austin FC coach Nico Estévez said. “We were average today.”
Average is probably being kind.
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Here are three key takeaways from the match as Austin FC (1-3-3, 6 points) begins U.S. Open Cup play Tuesday at Louisville.
Austin FC couldn’t take advantage of the situation
All indicators pointed to Austin FC coming away with three points from this match.
The team was coming off two solid performances in draws with LAFC and Inter Miami, while the Galaxy had barely more than two days of rest after playing a CONCACAF Champions Cup game Wednesday in Mexico.
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Yet between the 10th and 80th minutes, it was Austin FC who looked like the side that had a midweek game.
Estévez said he feared a letdown following all the pomp and circumstance the team dealt with its previous game when facing Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in the opening of that club’s new stadium.
His worry was realized.
“Naturally, it’s difficult to sustain a high level of play,” he said. “But at least don’t make it harder for yourself. … If we’re a team that wants to be high in the table, we need to improve that.”
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Austin FC needs its full roster
In Estévez’s defense, he’s working with a very average roster at the moment.
Saturday showed how badly the team misses midfielder Owen Wolff, the club’s best player in 2025 who has yet to step on the field after having sports hernia surgery in early January. (The decision to postpone Wolff’s surgery, which apparently could have been done as early as late November, seems to have been a mistake.)
Dani Pereira, who played for the first time since March 7 when he entered the game in the 79th minute, has also been missed.
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When Wolff and Pereira are available to play 60 minutes, it will be a massive upgrade for the club over current central midfielders Ilie Sánchez and Nicolás Dubersarsky.
Sánchez, who hasn’t been great, suffered an injury midway through the first half, which forced Besard Sabovic, the club’s worst option in the midfield, into the game. And after being mostly good the last month, Dubersarsky offered little Saturday.
Winger Jayden Nelson, one of the club’s high-profile offseason acquisitions, was also only available for the game’s final 30 minutes.
When Austin FC has its full roster, including forward Brandon Vazquez, it should be dangerous in its attack. But that’s likely a month away and may not even be until after the World Cup break.
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It also doesn’t excuse the lack of energy and substandard play the club exhibited Saturday.
“Our ball movement was too slow,” Estévez said. “We needed more fluidity. … We wanted more urgency and ruthlessness with the ball.”
Home woes lead to slow start
Estévez said at the end of last season that the club needed to be better at home after going 7-7-3 for 28 points.
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That’s not happening.
Austin FC is 1-1-2 for five points through four matches at Q2 Stadium. And while injuries have certainly played a part in that, dropping points at home is never ideal.
Overall, the club will enter Saturday’s match at Toronto anywhere from 12th to 15th in the Western Conference depending on other league results Saturday.
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And while it’s way too early to make drastic conclusions, and the MLS is overly forgiving to teams who have long stretches of poor form in the regular season with 60% of the teams making the postseason, it’s not the start to the year Austin FC wanted.