Sebastian Driussi scored off an assist from Gyasi Zardes in the 11th minute of second-half stoppage time to lift host Austin FC to a wild 4-3 win over the struggling San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday in a Western Conference game.
The winning goal came after the Earthquakes shrugged off Austin’s comeback of three goals in six minutes by tying the game on Amahl Pellegrino’s tally in the 74th minute. San Jose had three shots on goal in the ensuing 25 minutes but succumbed when Driussi found the net for his second score of the game and lifted the Verde (2-2-3, 9 points) to their second straight victory.
Austin was aggressive in the opening portion of the game, forcing a pair of corner kicks before Driussi uncorked a shot in the sixth minute that was stopped by Earthquakes goalkeeper William Yarbrough.
The complexion of the game changed in the 20th minute as Paul Marie got San Jose on the scoreboard with a header after a pass from Cristian Espinoza to the back post. Marie started the play in the offensive zone by stealing the ball from Austin defender Julio Cascante.
San Jose then went on the offensive, with Espinoza and then Carlos Akapo peppering Brad Stuver with shots in the 22nd and 23rd minute, respectively, that the Austin keeper turned away.
The Verde pressed for the equalizer, with Daniel Pereira testing Yarbrough in the 45th minute with a right-footed shot that the San Jose keeper saved.
The Earthquakes (1-6-0, 3 points) doubled their advantage in the 57th minute as Jeremy Ebobisse beat Stuver to the center of the box after a pass from Niko Tsakiris.
Almost immediately, Austin’s Diego Rubio earned a penalty kick when he was fouled in the box by the Earthquakes’ Carlos Gruezo. Driussi stepped to the spot and scored his first goal of the season at the 61st minute to cut Austin’s deficit to 2-1.
The Verde knotted the game two minutes later when Jadier Obrian turned around an assist by Jon Gallagher. Austin then completed its amazing offensive three-goal explosion when Guilherme Biro found the net in the 67th minute off a feed from Alexander Ring.
San Jose produced the tying score when Pellegrino made the most of an assist by Espinoza to bring the game back to equal in the 74th minute.
That set the stage for Driussi’s last-gasp heroics.
–Field Level Media
