Guilherme Biro poured in the equalizer in the 89th minute as host Austin FC roared from behind to split the points via a 2-2 draw with playoff-bound Real Salt Lake on Saturday in a late-season Western Conference match.
Biro’s match-tying tally lifted Austin (9-13-9, 36 points) to the draw but could do little to help the Verde’s hopes for the postseason. Austin remains in 11th place in the West, two spots and now eight points under the playoff line with three matches remaining.
Real Salt Lake (14-7-10, 52 points), who have already secured a spot in the postseason for the fourth straight year, fell from second to third place in the West with three contests to play.
The Verde dominated the first half but never found the net. Austin started the half with a shot on goal by Jon Gallagher in the 11th minute that was stopped by RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath and ended it with a shot on target with low probability from Alexander Ring in the third minute of added time.
In between, Austin’s Julio Cascante had the half’s best scoring chance but completely missed the target with his header after a corner kick from Ring.
Real Salt Lake immediately went on the offensive after the break, with Cristian Arango ripping a shot from the right side of the penalty area in the 48th minute that was batted away by Austin keeper Brad Stuver on a spectacular kick save.
But the deflected ball ended up on the right foot of Matt Crooks, who quickly booted it into the bottom left corner to hand the visitors a 1-0 lead.
It took the Claret and Cobalt just seven minutes to add to the lead as summer acquisition Diogo Goncalves hammered home a shot from the spot after a foul in the area by Austin’s Owen Wolff on a corner kick from Goncalves.
Austin pulled to within 2-1 as Jader Obrian scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season in the 82nd minute off a feed from Gallagher. Biro then stunned the visitors when he knotted the match in the 89th minute as he found the net with a right-footed shot from the center of the box to the lower left central zone.
–Field Level Media
