Verde and Black<\/a> fell to the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 at Q2 Stadium, recording their third straight loss and falling to a brutal 0-3-4 in their last seven home matches.\u00a0<\/p>\nMyrto Uzuni gave Austin FC a first-half lead after taking advantage of a Vancouver errant pass, but the visitors scored twice in the second half \u2014 including an incredible shot from Yadaly Diaby from the corner of the box to the far post \u2014 to earn the win.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here are three key takeaways from the match as Austin FC (7-13-10, 31 points, 14th West) is eight points out of the ninth and final playoff spot with four games left entering Saturday\u2019s contest at Kansas City.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Home struggles<\/p>\n
Austin FC hasn\u2019t won a league match at home since July 22.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Tallying four points in seven matches has prevented the Verde and Black from making any kind of run the second half of the season into the playoff race. And it\u2019s overshadowed the surprising road wins the club has produced in taking three points at Portland, Seattle and Vancouver.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an issue for us and we can\u2019t put our finger on it,\u201d Austin FC interim coach Davy Arnaud said. \u201cIn this league it\u2019s very difficult to get to where you want to be if you can\u2019t win at home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even turning two of the draws into wins would have the Verde and Black with a chance for the postseason going into their final four contests. Instead, the club is going to have to win all four and hope for every result it needs around the rest of the league to occur.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re going to keep fighting until the standings tell us that it\u2019s not available,\u201d Arnaud said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shortcomings all around\u00a0<\/p>\n
Arnaud lamented Austin FC\u2019s play in the first 45 minutes, even though it entered halftime with a lead. The Verde and Black were on their heels, only had 34% possession and Uzuni\u2019s goal was the team\u2019s only shot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t sharp enough to give the forwards opportunities,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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And for the second straight game, Austin FC gave up a goal early in the second half, leaving Ryan Gauld wide open in the box for an uncontested header on a cross.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t concede a minute into the second half,\u201d Arnaud said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t do a good job of defending in that moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outside of a Brandon Vazquez header on a corner kick, the Verde and Black didn\u2019t create any notable scoring chances the final 45 minutes. They produced a paltry 0.19 expected goals stat, according to the Apple TV broadcast, which allowed Diaby\u2019s phenomenal goal to be the difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he hits that shot 100 times, I don\u2019t know how many times he makes it,\u201d Arnaud said. \u201cIt was a great shot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Bottom line<\/p>\n
In a brutal three-game stretch against Nashville, LAFC and Vancouver, where it had to have at least three points, Austin FC came away with none.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The club always had an uphill battle after its disastrous first half of the season, but one would expect it wouldn\u2019t essentially be eliminated from the playoffs with four games left, especially in a league where 60% of the teams make the postseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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But a poor home form in August and September seems to have left the Verde and Black looking ahead to 2027 in mid-October.<\/p>\n
![\"AUSTIN,]()
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AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Emmanuel Sabbi #11 of Vancouver FC fights for possession of the ball with Joseph Rosales #30 of Austin FC in the first half during a match between Austin FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps at Q2 Stadium on October 17, 2026 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Daniel Jefferson\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Daniel Jefferson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 17: Jon Bell #15 of Austin FC fights with Emmanuel Sabbi #11 of Vancouver…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,135,134,133,136,7731],"class_list":["post-469707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-fc","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-mls","tag-vancouver-whitecaps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469707","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=469707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}