Myrto Uzuni’s stunning goal six minutes into second-half stoppage time lifted host Austin FC to a 2-1 victory over the visiting Seattle Sounders on Sunday evening in a wild and important Western Conference match.

Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver made five saves, including two spectacular, sprawling stops on Georgi Minoungou and Jesus Ferreira in the final 10 minutes, to keep the Verde in the match and set the table for Uzuni’s game winner.

CJ Fodrey had the assist on the deciding tally for Austin, his third goal contribution in his past four matches.

Austin (12-10-8, 44 points) remained one position behind and cut the points deficit to one behind Seattle in the conference race as it earned points for the eighth time in its past 10 league games (5-2-3) since losing at Seattle at the end of June.

The Sounders (12-9-9, 45 points) remained in fifth place in the West table, but could have clinched a berth in the playoffs with a win.

It was the Verde that found the net first, making the most of their first real scoring chance. Diego Rubio stole the ball from the Sounders’ Jackson Ragen near midfield in the 42nd minute and sprinted down the pitch, outrunning Ragen and Yeimar Gomez Andrade into the box. Rubio then unleashed a right-footed shot that beat Seattle keeper Andrew Thomas low to the right corner to give Austin a 1-0 lead.

The Verde nearly doubled the lead four minutes into first-half stoppage time when Uzuni rifled a shot from just outside the box that forced Thomas into a save.

Seattle forged advantages in the statistics across the board before halftime, most notably producing seven corner kicks to zero for the hosts.

It took an instant after the start of the second half for the Sounders to produce the equalizer. Minoungou, who entered the match as a substitute at halftime, scored on his first touch after a spirited sprint to the goalmouth and a dead-on pass onto his right foot by Danny Musovski.

Roldan also was credited with an assist for his long clearing pass to Musovski that started the scoring run. It was Minoungou’s first ever goal in MLS play.

Rubio tested Thomas with a right-footed shot in the 54th minute but was turned away.

Stuver came off his line to stop Jordan Morris on a point-blank shot in the 72nd minute, making the save of the match and keeping the match tied to set the stage for the winning goal.

–Field Level Media