Austin FC eliminated from Leagues Cup with 3-1 loss to Juárez
Austin FC will have an unwanted three-week break.
El Tree was bounced out of the inaugural Leagues Cup with a 3-1 loss to FC Juárez Saturday at Q2 Stadium.
Austin FC won’t take the field again until Aug. 20 when it heads to St. Louis, who also failed to advance to the knockout stage of the competition.
Ethan Finlay scored for Austin FC, while Aitor Garcia’s brace and Sebastian Saucedo’s score led the visitors.
Here are some thoughts from the match as El Tree’s focus turns to trying to secure a top-four finish in the Western Conference and home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Another early exit
As noted following Austin FC’s 3-1 loss to Mazatlán FC to begin the Leagues Cup, El Tree has fallen flat in non-MLS competitions.
The club was eliminated in the first round of CONCACAF Champions League, lost in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup and now failed to advance here despite having two home matches.
El Tree started this contest out in dominating fashion, dictating the run of play and easily could have had three goals in the first 20 minutes.
But after Ethan Finlay, who continued his recent run of quality form, had a great strike to put Austin FC ahead 1-0 following a brilliant through ball from Owen Wolff, El Tree always seemed on its back foot.
Outside back Jon Gallagher noted in his postgame meeting with the media that the team was constantly chasing the ball the last 60% of the game — a comment that was deadly accurate.
Juárez completely ruled the second half and easily could have had two more goals on counterattacks had it finished better.
Center back Matt Hedges, who made his first appearance after joining the team Wednesday in a trade with Toronto, credited Juárez’s quality for its goals and second-half domination.
He’s not wrong, as the Mexican side has plenty of good players who produced good combinations.
But it doesn’t lessen the sting for an Austin FC club who had plans of making a run in the tournament ending up with two 3-1 losses at home.
Defense subpar
As good as goalie Brad Stuver has been this season, Juárez’s first goal seemed to be completely on him.
Either he didn’t see Sebastian Saucedo’s free kick that stayed on the ground and curved into the goal, or he was focused on the other Juárez players who were making runs into the box.
Saucedo’s kick was a good one, but it’s not a shot that should have entered the goal.
However, this wasn’t the best performance by the Austin FC defense, which never seemed to be on the same page, either.
Juárez’s attacking players constantly produced chances, with Garcia being clinical on his two finishes.
While El Tree wasn’t good in the second half, you have to tip your cap to Juárez for its solid play.
Healthy for season's final 2 months?
If there’s good news from this match, it’s that Austin FC seems to be getting healthy everywhere but striker.
Midfielders Sebastián Driussi and Dani Pereira started after missing the Mazatlán contest, while Alex Ring came on in the second half as a sub for his first appearance since injuring his groin vs. Miami on July 1.
They’ll all have plenty of time to heal or get back into match shape before heading to St. Louis, while strikers Gyasi Zardes and Maxi Urruti and midfielder Emiliano Rigoni could be ready to go then as well.
It’s possible Austin FC will be the healthiest it’s been all year when it starts the stretch run of the final 11 MLS games.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: El Tree fails to get out of group stage with second straight 3-1 loss
