Brandon Vazquez made amends for an own goal by booting home the game winner in the 51st minute as host Austin FC did just enough to beat the New York Red Bulls 2-1 on Saturday in just the third ever meeting between the interconference rivals.
Vazquez ran to the near post to take a perfect pass from Osman Bukari and beat New York goalkeeper Carlos Coronel into the middle of the net. Verde keeper Brad Stuver and the defense did the rest as Austin (7-7-5, 26 points) won its second straight league match after an eight-match winless streak.
Stuver was forced to make his only save of the match on Emil Forsberg’s free kick seven minutes into second-half stoppage time. The Verde’s captain dove to his left to bat away Forsberg’s curving kick, which had eyes for the upper-right corner of the net but never made it there.
Austin pulled even with the Red Bulls in the teams’ all-time series, avenging a loss in 2022 in New York; the sides played to a draw in Austin in 2023.
The Red Bulls (8-7-3, 27 points) had a three-match winning streak snapped and fell to 1-6-2 away from home this season. It was New York’s first loss against a Western Conference team in nine matches.
The Red Bulls outshot Austin 6-5 in a mostly defensive first half and were even at halftime despite not recording a shot on goal.
The Verde came out on fire, with Guilherme Biro scoring on the side’s first shot on goal as he headed a pass from Owen Wolff in the sixth minute into the bottom left corner and past New York goalkeeper Coronel to produce a 1-0 lead.
New York found the equalizer in the 23rd minute when a corner kick from Forsberg found its way back to his foot and was eventually headed into the net by Vazquez for an own goal.
That set the stage for Vazquez and Bukari, and ultimately Stuver.
–Field Level Media
