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AUSTIN — FC Dallas couldn’t overcome one of its worst first-half showings of the year and saw its season end in the Western Conference semifinals, falling to Austin FC 2-1 on Sunday night.
The loss cuts short FCD’s chase of its first-ever MLS Cup, while Austin moves on to face Los Angeles FC in the conference final.
The home fans were celebrating in the 26th minute when Austin took the lead thanks to a finish in the box by forward Moussa Djitte. FCD failed to clear a corner kick and it bounced across the edge of the six-yard area before Djitte knocked it in at the back post.
The second goal came in a moment of transition, in which FCD usually excels, but this time the attack got started in the wrong direction. FCD winger Alan Velasco took possession in the center circle but couldn’t trap the ball cleanly. It took a lusty bounce off his thigh and fell to the feet of Austin FC star Driussi.
He was off and running, allowed to shift the ball onto the right once he got in the box and power his shot past FCD goalkeeper Maarten Paes in the 29th minute.
The two-goal hole was the culmination of a number of issues that FCD ran into at the start. With Austin FC clogging the middle of the field to prevent FCD from making short passes, the team had to resort to long balls. They were hardly able to put their press, which had frustrated Austin in two regular season meetings, onto the field with Austin rarely keeping the ball at the back.
Team members noted before the match they could neither allow Driussi to get space, as they did on the second goal, or conceded free kicks in dangerous areas, which they did on the first.
Perhaps the best opportunity in the first half came in stoppage time, when midfielder Sebastian Lletget sent a sharp pass to winger Paul Arriola in the box. But he collided with a defender as he tried to get power behind his shot and hit a dribbler Stuver easily scooped up.
Estévez went to his bench at the break, bringing on Franco Jara and switching up his formation. The forward helped FCD stretch an Austin team generally happy to stay compact with the lead, with Jesus Ferreira getting a look in the 48th minute from outside the box but failing to hit the target.
At the hour mark, FCD winger Alan Velasco was off and running but was cut down by Austin center back Julio Cascante and earned a free kick in a good area that FCD couldn’t manage to convert into a threat.
Velasco found the goal FCD needed to cut the host’s lead in half. Paxton Pomykal, who entered the game at the 60th minute after training just one day during the week because of a hamstring issue, started a move down the left side of FCD’s attack. He crossed into the box for Velasco, who touched the ball to Jara. Velasco got it back from his countryman, who scored on the half-volley to make the rally seem possible.
As the clock continued to tick on the FCD season, Estévez made sure he didn’t have any regrets about how his team went out. The manager deployed Jader Obrian, typically a winger, at right back as FCD took big risks to get as many men forward as feasible without leaving the goal totally unprotected.
Even so, Paes had more work to do. Diego Fagundez put a shot on target that looked destined for the back of the net in the 70th minute, but the Dutchman leapt to make the save and keep the margin at one goal.
He also blocked a header from Driussi in the 82nd minute as Austin tried to take advantage of an aggressive FCD.
But neither side was able to score again. Ferreira put a free kick atop the box well over the bar in stoppage time, and Austin did enough defensively to make sure FCD didn’t have any other clear chances.
FCD’s season ends after a regular season in which it doubled its win total and notched 20 more points than last season. FCD will have a few questions to answer in the offseason, mainly centering around which players it may sell on to other clubs and if it once again will be aggressive in the transfer market.
Last season, after selling top scorer Ricardo Pepi, FCD spent a club record amount to bring in Velasco and also traded for Arriola in the winter and later brought Lletget in via trade during the summer.
The Dallas Morning News partners with The Striker Texas to bring coverage of FC Dallas and other notable Texas soccer stories to dallasnews.com. Find more soccer coverage at thestrikertexas.com.
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