Austin Fc Coach Joshua David Wolff Blames His Players For The Draw Against Philadelphia Union.
Philadelphia Union turned the momentum in the second half to grab a 2-2 draw at Austin FC on Saturday night.
It was a tale of two halves in the Lone Star State with Philly controlling the first 45 minutes that saw the Union grab the lead via a penalty kick conversion from Daniel Gazdag.
Austin FC battled back with two goals in two minutes to take the lead before Union forward Mikael Uhre notched his second goal of the league season with a finish in the 64th minute to tie the contest.
Head Coach Jim Curtin had a robust group to choose from on Saturday night, sending out one of the strongest lineups the Union’s had all season with his front three in Julian Carraza, Daniel Gazdag, and Mikael Uhre back together.
With the 23-year-old Argentine back in the lineup, Quinn Sullivan was back in his natural midfield alongside fellow Homegrown Jack McGlynn and José Martinez.
As for the defense, Homegrown Nate Harriel finally returned to his natural right back spot, opposite Kai Wagner, and fortified with Damion Lowe and Jack Elliott paired in the back.
The first-ever MLS meeting between the pair started off in favor of the Union with a series of free kicks earned in the first ten minutes. Although they weren’t able to capitalize on their first few opportunities, it was still Philadelphia who claimed the first lead of the match.
After earning a free kick chance just outside Austin FC’s box, Kai Wagner earned a penalty kick in the 11th minute with a shot that hit off a defender’s arm.
A quick check from the Video Assistant Referee saw the Union awarded a point to the spot where Daniel Gazdag gave the Union a 1-0 advantage in their first visit to Q2 stadium.
The goal was the Hungarian’s first since the team’s home opener against Chicago Fire on February 24th. With his goal, Gazdag became the first player in MLS history to convert each of his first 20 penalty-kicks taken from the start of his career.
The Union continued to push the attack in the subsequent minutes of the first half to double their advantage with scoring chances just off the mark from a Carranza header, a blast from Sullivan from the right side of the box, and a left-footer from Jack McGlynn before the half hour mark.
The first yellow card of the night was shown to Sullivan in the 34rd minute, scrapping to defend against Austin in near midfield.
Coming into the contest Curtin challenged his team to play like themselves with the front-foot pressing causing issues for the hosts side in the first half.
The pressing was nearly perfect when Austin attacked the Union’s homegrowns on the right side of the formation with Harriel and Sullivan syncing up with Carranza to jump on numerous second balls to cut down any momentum Austin FC tried to gain.