Julio Cascante’s stoppage-time header gave El Tree life, but it still lost to Real Salt Lake 2-1 at Q2 Stadium as Rubio Rubin scored twice for the visitors.
Here are some thoughts from the match, which was delayed two hours in the first half by lightning and didn’t end until after 11:30 pm, as Austin FC (5-7-4, 19 points) finally gets a week off after nine matches in 29 days before heading to Sporting Kansas City.
Frustrations on offense
El Tree probably leaves the match a bit frustrated as it didn’t take advantage of the chances it had in front of the goal.
Sebastián Driussi had a couple of opportunities inside the six-yard box after he came on in the second half that he couldn’t get a solid foot on.
To be fair to Driussi, they weren’t easy plays, but ones he probably makes when he’s at full strength and not yet recovering from injury.
Overall, El Tree mostly dominated the second half in terms of possession but did not create an abundance of dangerous chances or consistently test Real Salt Lake’s 18-year-old goalie Gavin Beavers.
Defense has subpar performance
The lack of height in Austin FC’s center back corps with Leo Väisänen finally caught up to Austin FC.
Alex Ring, who stands around 5 feet 8, has been phenomenal at the position and had a great game otherwise, was beat on Rubin’s first-half goal on a header in the box.
It’s not an indictment on Ring, as it was a bit of a normal soccer play, but with a healthy Väisänen, who is north of 6 feet, that’s something that probably doesn’t happen.
Overall, the defending by El Tree on the play was not great, as Ring was left defending two players in the box.
Austin FC coach Josh Wolff, goalie Brad Stuver and defensive midfielder Dani Pereira all expressed in the postgame press conference that the defense as a whole could have done better on both of Real Salt Lake’s goals.
Rubin’s second score in the 81st minute came after a couple of clearances went directly to Real Salt Lake players, with the final one eventually leading to the series of passes that led to the goal that was ultimately the difference in the game.
Austin FC’s defense has been great all season, especially with the injuries to Julio Cascante, Zan Kolmanic and Väisänen, but this was not one of its better showings.
Storm makes for a long night
The storm that delayed the game in the 40th minute threw the game into a series of starts and stops.
Stuver and Pereira both noted the teams were told several different times of when the match would restart, which made knowing when to relax or stay warm difficult.
Play ultimately restarted at 10:22 pm, but after seven minutes the contest was halted again for a 10-minute halftime with Real Salt Lake leading 1-0.
Radovanović shoulder injury serious
It was a surprise Aleksandar Radovanović didn’t play at all as Wolff had indicated he would likely see a lot of minutes after Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Minnesota and during his meeting with the media Friday.
However, Radovanović suffered a torn labrum and a small broken bone in his shoulder when he dislocated it vs. the Loons and didn’t feel good jogging in practice Friday.
Pereira keeps impressing
Pereira was excellent again, and his dribbling seems to improve with each match.
The increase in quality in his form in the last 18 months has been impressive, and we may be seeing his final days in green and black if some European or South American club makes a giant offer in the summer transfer window to buy him.
This was arguably Valencia’s best game in an Austin FC uniform.
Making smart passes, including some impressively accurate long balls, and strong challenges, Valencia showed why his playing time has slowly increased over the past month and has made a case to keep starting alongside Pereira.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Our thoughts on Austin FC’s 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake