Forward Moussa Djitté makes MLS and Austin FC debut; Cascante, Fagundez and Ring score for Austin FC
Photos by Suzanne Cordeiro
Austin, TEXAS (August 29, 2021) – Austin FC welcomed Texas rivals FC Dallas to Q2 Stadium for the first time on Sunday night in what was one of the more thrilling matches of the 2021 MLS season. Dallas came away with the three (3) points, beating Austin 5-3 in front of another raucous crowd.
Dallas opened the scoring early in the fifth minute after some nervy moments to start from both sides. Ricardo Pepi pressured Brad Stuver, and Jesus Ferreira was able to pounce on the ball to give FCD an early lead.
Austin quickly found its answer in the 13th minute. After a set piece, Cascante stayed in the final third and the recycled ball eventually landed on the left foot of Žan Kolmanič. The Slovenian fired in a cross that got to the head of Cascante and the center back redirected the header back to the far post. It was his first goal for the Verde & Black.
The teams traded plenty of chances over the next 20 minutes before Dallas took the lead again. After building up through the Austin midfield, Szabolcs Schön hit Ricardo Pepi with a pass just inside the top of the box and the 18-year-old slotted his shot into the bottom left corner. Two (2) minutes later Ferreira added his second of the match off a rebound to put Dallas up 3-1.
Dallas went up 4-1 before the break when Pepi found himself in open space after being played through to Stuver. The US international finished his second of the match and 11th on the season.
The score jumped to 5-1 in the 53rd minute when Jáder Obrian ended up through on goal after a goal kick. The winger didn’t make a mistake and scored another one for the visitors.
Austin got one back in the 59th minute off a high press. Sebastián Driussi won the ball off a tackle and slipped a ball to Diego Fagundez, who timed his run perfectly. Fagundez scored and tied Cecilio Domínguez for the team lead with five (5) goals.
ATXFC poured on the pressure after the goal, and found its third goal in the 68th minute. Driussi hooked up with Hector Jimenez and the substitute’s cross hit Alex Ring perfectly. The captain headed the ball down and past Phelipe Megiolaro to bring the scoreline to 5-3.
Josh Wolff’s team continued to push over the final 20-plus minutes, but it could not find more goals to earn a hard-earned point at home.
PHOTO GALLERY
Goal-Scoring Summary
DAL (0-1) – Jesús Ferreira 5’ (unassisted)
ATX (1-1) – Julio Cascante 13’ (assisted by Žan Kolmanič, Nick Lima)
DAL (1-2) – Ricardo Pepi 36’ (assisted by Szabolcs Schön)
DAL (1-3) – Jesús Ferreira 38’ (unassisted)
DAL (1-4) – Ricardo Pepi 40’ (assisted by Szabolcs Schön)
DAL (1-5) – Jáder Obrian 53’ (unassisted)
ATX (2-5) – Diego Fagundez 59’ (assisted by Sebastián Driussi)
ATX (3-5) – Alex Ring 68’ (assisted by Hector Jimenez)
Misconduct Summary
DAL – Szabolcs Schön (caution) 17’
ATX – Nick Lima (caution) 25’
DAL – Kalil ElMedkhar (caution) 84’
Media Assets
Austin FC Head Coach Josh Wolff digital press conference
Boxscore
Austin FC vs FC Dallas | Q2 Stadium (Austin, TX) | August 29, 2021
Lineups
Austin FC: Brad Stuver, Žan Kolmanič (Hector Jimenez 45’), Matt Besler, Julio Cascante (Jhohan Romaña 45’), Nick Lima, Daniel Pereira, Alex Ring ©, Sebastián Driussi, Cecilio Domínguez (Moussa Djitté 82’), Diego Fagundez (Rodney Redes 88’), Jon Gallagher (Tomás Pochettino 45’)
Substitutes not used: Andrew Tarbell, Freddy Kleemann, Sebastian Berhalter, Kekuta Manneh
Head Coach: Josh Wolff
TOTAL SHOTS: 15; SHOTS ON GOAL: 7; FOULS: 7; OFFSIDE: 1; CORNER KICKS: 8; SAVES: 2
FC Dallas: Phelipe Megiolaro, Matt Hedges © (José Antonio Martínez 63’), Nkosi Burgess, Ema Twumasi, Ryan Hollingshead, Edwin Cerrillo, Jáder Obrian (Justin Che 69’), Brandon Servania (Edwin Munjoma 76’), Jesús Ferreira, Szabolcs Schön (Kalil ElMedkhar 63’), Ricardo Pepi (Franco Jara 76’)
Substitutes not used: Freddy Vargas, Kyle Zobeck, Andrés Ricaurte, Jimmy Maurer
Head Coach: Luchi Gonzalez
TOTAL SHOTS: 20; SHOTS ON GOAL: 7; FOULS: 8; OFFSIDE: 1; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 4