Father Time is undefeated.
At a certain point in every person’s life, their body can’t do the things it once found easy. Knees creak, ankles stiffen, calf muscles develop the consistency of wet paper mache – the slow, inexorable, and wobbly march to the great finish line in the sky is as unpleasant as it is inevitable.
And the last sight a center-back in their advanced years would want to see is the lightning-quick Jader Obrian sprinting at them. Just ask the Los Angeles Galaxy center-back pairing of 35-year-old Maya Yoshida and 37-year-old Martin Caceres, who must have been positively terrified to see Obrian fly past them and latch onto an Alex Ring chipped pass in the first half of their match against Austin FC on Saturday afternoon at Q2 Stadium.
Obrian – easily clear of the graying Galaxy CBs – finished off his one-man counterattack superbly to give Austin FC a 2-0 lead in the 19th minute. The scoreline went unchanged for the remainder of the match as the Verde and Black held onto their advantage comfortably to secure their fourth win in five games.
“At home, you want to start fast, you want to play in their end, you want to take their legs and life out of the game to some degree,” Austin FC head coach Josh Wolff said in his post-match press conference. Wolff’s team executed their coach’s game plan excellently for their opening goal.
Heading into this weekend, per Opta, no team in Major League Soccer (MLS) had played more passes per attacking sequence than the Galaxy. And, per fbref.com, the Galaxy were fourth in MLS in possession before facing Austin FC. The Galaxy want the ball and want to work it around patiently. A tenacious first-half press from Austin FC prevented LA from dictating play with possession, and it directly led to Diego Rubio finding the back of the net to make it 1-0 for the home side.
Emiliano Rigoni and Dani Pereira cornered Galaxy midfielder Marco Delgado near the touchline to win possession for Austin FC. The ball fell to Sebastian Driussi, who moved it along to Ring. The Finnish midfielder fired the ball forward to Rubio, who played a give-and-go with Obrian before – while falling over – knocking the ball by Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy.
In addition to scoring, Rubio was critical to Austin FC’s attacking transitions. The Chilean dropped off the forward line and roamed midfield to receive passes that helped his team advance upfield. The average position of his touches in the match was below fellow forwards Rigoni and Obrian (note Rubio’s number 14 underneath Rigoni’s 7 and Obrian’s 11 – image per sofascore.com).
“His (Rubio’s) ability to connect with Seba (Driussi)…the ability for the ball to stick and connect to Obi (Obrian) and Emi (Rigoni)…asks big, big questions of the opposition,” Wolff said when asked about Rubio’s role in Austin FC’s attacking transitions.
After an aggressive first half where the Verde and Black were unafraid to challenge and harass the Galaxy deep inside LA’s half, the second half saw Austin FC sit deeper to defend their lead – even switching to a back five without the ball with substitute Owen Wolff dropping into the backline. Wolff’s team had 51% possession in the first half and just 30% after halftime.
“I think it’s the most complete performance that we’ve had (this season),” Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver said after the match. “When you look at game management, when you look at what we were able to accomplish in the first half and then what we were able to morph into in the second half, you see two different ways this team can play.”
Austin FC were outshot 16 to 9 by the Galaxy, but created better chances and registered more expected goals (xG) – 1.03 to the Galaxy’s .57 – per fotmob.com. And despite not having the ball for large chunks of the second half, Austin FC never looked out of control. The Galaxy had ten second-half shots, but those shots were only worth a meager .29 xG.
Skeptics might point to the Galaxy missing leading goal scorer and Austin FC tormentor Dejan Joveljic due to a thigh injury, but there was still plenty of talent on display for LA. Joseph Paintsil (four goals and four assists this season) and Riqui Puig (three goals and two assists this season) were each kept relatively quiet – Puig did record six shots, but only one of those came from inside the penalty area.
Wolff’s team capitalized on their fast start and delivered their best performance of the season. Prior wins against FC Dallas, the San Jose Earthquakes, and the Houston Dynamo came against weak opposition (Dallas and San Jose) or in a match where Austin FC were outplayed (Houston). A comprehensive victory over a Galaxy team that started the match first in the Western Conference should prompt Austin FC’s many doubters to pause and reconsider.
