four-game stretch<\/a> where they went 0-3-1 and gave up 12 goals, the Verde & Black\u2019s 2-0 win over Houston Dynamo FC at Q2 Stadium is more significant than a typical MLS win in April.\u00a0<\/p>\nArticle continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Jayden Nelson and Myrto Uzuni scored first-half goals and Austin FC played one of its better defensive second halves of the season as the Verde & Black won for the first time since March 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here are some key takeaways as Austin FC (2-4-4, 10 points) gets a full week off before hosting St. Louis on May 3.<\/p>\n
Austin FC was desperate for a win<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t a must-win contest for Austin FC, but for the 10th match of the season, it\u2019s about as close as one could be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The Verde & Black had no momentum and in the last two weeks had lost to a USL club in the U.S. Open Cup and been blown out 5-1 by San Jose.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c(The win) is really, really important, just from a tough week standpoint for us as players and for the club,\u201d Hines-Ike said. \u201cI think the biggest thing was putting together a full performance, because that\u2019s been clearly indicative of our last few results.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
With 60% of its teams making the playoffs, the MLS forgives long stretches of poor play in the regular season. (The New York Red Bulls won only one of their final nine matches in 2024 before going on to win the Eastern Conference.) However, Austin FC\u2019s is magnified because it has come at the beginning of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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And while the three points are good, the Verde & Black need to follow up with at least a draw against St. Louis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s game by game,\u201d Hines-Ike said. \u201cIt\u2019s by no means the end of the season when we lose like that to San Jose, and by no means are we firmly in a playoff position after tonight. \u2026 We have five more important games before the (World Cup) break and we have to maximize points.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Verde & Black avoid second-half letdown<\/p>\n
Plagued by defensive letdowns in the second half this season, part of which are due to their injury issues, the Verde & Black finished off the game with a measured approach in the second half.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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They were arguably too conservative at times, yet one never got the feel that Houston would make a comeback.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve played into the other team\u2019s hands sometimes (in previous games),\u201d Hines-Ike said. \u201cWe\u2019ve made it counterattack games, which is not Austin FC\u2019s style, especially when we\u2019re tired. \u2026 We focused (the last two days in training) on being more possession-based and not allowing teams to run over us. And we were much more compact.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Being healthy makes a difference for Austin FC<\/p>\n
After playing with a limited roster Wednesday at San Jose due to injuries, Austin FC had the majority of its key players. (Midfielders Owen Wolff and Dani Pereira were the only two missing.)<\/p>\n
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It showed in the buildup to Nelson\u2019s goal, when a quick passing combination by Christian Ram\u00edrez, Myrto Uzuni and Facundo Torres found him in the box. Nelson then put a move on his defender and curled his shot inside the far post.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nelson has proven to be a difference-maker for Austin FC on the wing. He\u2019s fast, smart and has good skills on the ball.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, he\u2019s struggled with injuries this season, including Saturday when he left the match in the 40th minute with what looked like a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n
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Austin FC plays once in the next 14 days before playing four times the following 14 days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If Nelson, Wolff and Pereira \u2014 and maybe even Brandon Vazquez \u2014 are available for the final four-game stretch, the Verde & Black might be able to show their true potential for the second half of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"AUSTIN,]()
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – APRIL 25: Joseph Rosales #30 of Austin FC and Ibrahim Aliyu #24 of Houston Dynamo compete for the ball during the MLS match between Austin FC and Houston Dynamo FC at Q2 Stadium on April 25, 2026 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Scott Wachter\/MLS via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Scott Wachter\/MLS via Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, TEXAS – APRIL 25: Brendan Hines-Ike #4 of Austin FC controls the ball whilst under pressure from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,135,134,133,23504,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-266689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-fc","10":"tag-austin-headlines","11":"tag-austin-news","12":"tag-houston-dynamo","13":"tag-mls"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}