Lopez Scores Twice in Visitors’ 3-1 Win
Photography by Suzanne Cordeiro
Austin, TEXAS (July 13, 2021) – Playing its first international club-friendly match at Q2 Stadium, Austin FC lost, 3-1, to Liga MX’s Tigres UANL, winners of seven league titles and the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League. Rodney Redes scored the Verde and Black’s lone goal to briefly pull Austin level in the second half.
Tigres defender Diego Reyes opened the scoring in the 25th minute, but not until Austin had put together a series of chances going forward. Diego Fagundez and Tomás Pochettino each fired a shot wide after breaking through a Tigres defense that included Reyes and another former Mexican National Team center back, Hugo Ayala. Reyes’ goal came off a corner kick as Guido Pizarro flicked on Rafael Carioca’s cross to Reyes, who nodded it in from 4 yards.
The second half started slowly for both teams but picked up in the 59th minute when Andrew Tarbell made an impressive save after turning the ball over. Three minutes later, ATXFC found an equalizer.
Redes took a midfield pass from Owen Wolff and drove at the defense. He skipped past one tackle and fired a rocket into the bottom left corner from 25 yards out.
Tigres regained the lead in the 71st minute when Raymundo Fulgencio connected on a cross and volleyed it towards goal. Nicolas Lopez swooped in to deflect the ball past Tarbell. Lopez scored again just two minutes later. Tigres goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman played a long ball that found the foot of Fulgencio. A quick combination play put Lopez into penalty area and the forward placed a curling shot into the far upper corner of the net.
Both Manny Perez and Kekuta Manneh had chances to cut into the lead in the 82nd minute but Guzman came up with two big saves to preserve his Tigres’ two-goal lead.
PHOTO GALLERY
Goal-Scoring Summary
TIG (0-1) – Diego Reyes, 26’ (assisted by Guido Pizarro)
ATX (1-1) – Rodney Redes, 62’ (assisted by Owen Wolff)
TIG (1-2) – Nicolás López, 71’ (assisted by Raymundo Fulgencio)
TIG (1-3) – Nicolás López, 73’ (assisted by Raymundo Fulgencio)
Misconduct Summary
ATX – Jhohan Romaña (caution) 37’
Lineups
Austin FC: Andrew Tarbell, Aedan Stanley, Jhohan Romaña, Hector Jimenez (Žan Kolmanič 45’), Manny Perez (McKinze Gaines 87’), Tomás Pochettino (Julio Cascante ‘74), Sebastian Berhalter, Diego Fagundez (Owen Wolff 45’), Rodney Redes, Kekuta Manneh, Matt Besler © (Freddy Kleemann 45’) Substitutes not used: Jared Stroud, William Pulisic, Brad Stuver Head Coach: Josh Wolff
Club Tigres UANL: Nahuel Guzmán, Hugo Ayala, Diego Reyes (Juan José Sánchez 86’), Francisco Venegas (Aldo Cruz 67′), Érick Ávalos (Jesús Garza 67’), Rafael De Souza (David Ayala 67’), Guido Pizarro (Raymundo Fulgencio 30’), Javier Aquino (Luis Ronaldo Nájera 86’), Juan Pablo Vigón, Adrián Garza, Nicolás López (Alan Ramos 86’) Substitutes not used: Leonardo Fernández, Luis Quiñones, Miguel Ortega Head Coach: Miguel Herrera
Match Information
Referee: Lorenzo Hernandez
Assistant Referee 1: Francisco Bermudez
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Ocampo
4th Official: Gerald Flores
Weather: Sunny, 77 degrees
About Austin FC
Austin FC joined Major League Soccer (MLS) as the 27th club in January 2019. Austin FC officially began competing in MLS in April 2021 and will play the Club’s first match at home on June 19, 2021 in the new, 100% privately financed, $260 million, state-of-the-art Q2 Stadium in Austin.
Austin FC operates the Austin FC Academy, the fully funded developmental academy representing the highest level of competition for elite youth soccer players in Central Texas, while serving as the exclusive developmental pathway to MLS for the region’s most talented young players.