Myrto Uzuni and Owen Wolff scored goals and Austin FC held on late for a 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy on Wednesday in a Western Conference match in Carson, Calif.
The Verde (8-8-6, 30 points), which entered the match having not scored in its past two MLS games and with a league-low 15 goals for the season, took advantage of LA’s porous defense to post the win and sweep the season series between the sides. Austin is 3-1-1 over its last five MLS matches.
Los Angeles (3-14-6, 15 points), the defending MLS champion, came into the match with victories in consecutive matches for the first time this season and three wins in a row at home. The Galaxy began the season 0-12-4 — the worst start in league history — and has surrendered a league-high 45 goals.
Wolff produced the match’s first shot on goal, forcing a save from LA keeper Novak Micovic in the 16th minute.
Uzuni, the Albanian national who was signed by Austin in January on a team-record transfer fee from Granada in Spain’s LaLiga 2, got the Verde on the scoreboard in the 40th minute. He took a pass from Diego Rubio deep into the box and steadied the ball to his left foot before beating Micovic low to the left corner of the net. Brendan Hines-Ike also got an assist for the pass that started the scoring play.
It was Uzuni’s second goal of the season and snapped Austin FC’s 219-minute span without finding the net.
Wolff added a key insurance tally in the 63rd minute after a breakdown by the Galaxy inside the penalty area. A bounding ball was misplayed by two LA players and skidded to Uzuni, who pulled Micovic off his goal line with a weak shot. But the ball ended up at the feet of Wolff, who showed patience in switching to his left foot before calmly kicking the ball into the open net.
The Galaxy’s Joseph Paintsil drew a foul at the edge of the area from Mikkel Desler two minutes into second-half stoppage time and calmly beat Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver on the ensuing kick from the spot to draw LA to within a goal. But that’s as close as it would get.
–Field Level Media
