Christian Ramirez scored a brace, with his second goal in the 60th minute proving to be the game winner, as visiting Austin FC surprised the Western Conference-leading Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
The Verde (7-10-8, 29 points) extended their unbeaten run to six straight matches (3-0-3) by making the most of their limited chances and holding on as Vancouver failed to convert excellent opportunities down the stretch.
The Whitecaps (14-6-4, 46 points) are just 4-3-0 over their past seven matches but stayed three points clear of second-place Houston in the West standings.
Vancouver produced the game’s first scoring chance as Brian White tested Brad Stuver in the 10th minute with a shot that the Austin goalkeeper easily scooped up.
The Verde then stunned the home side with a stirring tally on the counterattack. Stuver snatched a loose ball in the box after a Vancouver corner kick and threw it up the left side to a sprinting Jon Gallagher.
Gallagher pushed the ball ahead to Facundo Torres on the dead run, and Torres crossed his pass over the defense toward the far post for Ramirez to run onto. Ramirez’s one-touch shot was perfectly placed out of the reach of Whitecaps keeper Yohei Takaoka and gave Austin a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute.
The Verde dodged a bullet in the 40th minute when Vancouver’s Ryan Gauld clanged a penalty kick off the cross bar after Austin’s Besard Sabovic fouled Gauld in the box.
The Whitecaps produced the equalizer four minutes into the second half as White took a pass from Gauld and worked through the Austin defense before rolling a shot into the bottom right corner past a sprawling Stuver.
Ramirez made short work of his second chance of the game, using a pass from Joseph Rosales and a secondary assist from Erin Torres to one-touch a shot past Takaoka and into the net in the 60th minute.
The Whitecaps forced the pace down the stretch in their hunt for the tying goal but could not break through, even though Austin was forced to play all six minutes of added time a man down after Guilherme Biro was assessed his second yellow card of the match.
–Field Level Media
