Emiliano Rigoni scored in the 86th minute to lift visiting Austin FC to a 1-0 victory over Houston Dynamo FC on Saturday in a Copa Tejas game between the Lone Star State foes.
Rigoni got behind the Dynamo defense and used his left foot to send a pass from CJ Fodrey from the left side of the box to beat Houston goalkeeper Steve Clark with the decisive goal. The win gave the Verde (3-3-3, 12 points) their third in their past four contests.
Austin keeper Brad Stuver recorded six saves to garner his second clean sheet of the season.
Houston (4-3-1, 13 points) dropped its second game in its past three outings. The game featured the season debut of Mexican nation team midfielder Hector Herrera, who missed the Dynamo’s first seven fixtures with an injury.
The Dynamo had the first scoring chance when Artur put a shot on goal in the seventh minute that was saved by Stuver. The Austin keeper then turned away another shot by Artur a minute later after an attempt from outside the box.
Austin responded with a shot from Sebastian Driussi in the 14th minute from the left side of the box that Clark gobbled up with ease. Alexander Ring then tested Clark in the 22nd minute with the Verde’s best scoring chance of the half before Guilherme Biro’s header was saved by the Houston goalkeeper 13 minutes later.
Ibrahim Aliyu had the Dynamo’s final chance to score before halftime, rifling a shot from the center of the penalty area in the second minute of stoppage time that was stopped by Stuver.
Houston continued to press its attack, producing chances in the 68th and 70th minute from Amine Bassi and Herrera, respectively, but both had little chance to get their shots past Stuver. Aliyu had the Dynamo’s best chance to score when had a left-footed shot in the 72nd minute that Stuver saved.
That set the stage for Rigoni and his winning goal, Austin’s first on the road in four matches this season.
–Field Level Media