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ST PAUL, MINNESOTA - MAY 10: Guilherme Biro #29 of Austin FC and Joaquin Pereyra #26 of Minnesota United FC compete for the ball during the MLS match between Minnesota United FC and Austin FC at Allianz Field on May 10, 2026 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Ellen Schmidt/MLS via Getty Images) (Ellen Schmidt/MLS via Getty Images)
It’s clear that Austin FC will make or break its season with what it does after the MLS takes a two-month hiatus for the World Cup.
The Verde & Black will presumably have their entire roster healthy and available to play 90 minutes for the first time when they reconvene in late July for the final 19 games.
But the club is slowly putting itself in a position where it won’t have a major hole to dig out of after a rough start to the year.
And a 2-2 draw Sunday against Minnesota at Allianz Field is a better result than first meets the eye.
Sure, Austin FC continues to have second-half defensive woes — which their roster health situation contributes to — and probably lost center back Brendan Hines-Ike for the next three games to a hamstring injury. It was also subpar for long stretches in each half.
Yet the Verde & Black still produced a point on the road against a top five club in the Western Conference. And with a 72-hour turnaround and another four-hour flight to play San Diego on Wednesday — a scenario where even a draw seems unlikely — that’s important to start a stretch of three games in seven days.
“Any result you can get on the road is a positive, but we came here to win,” Austin FC coach Nico Estévez said. “But with (winning the last two matches), there’s room for results like this.”
Here are some key takeaways from the match as Austin FC (3-4-5, 14 points) received goals from Myrto Uzuni and Christian Ramírez.
Christian Ramírez continues to be clutch
Austin FC seemed headed for a loss after Joaquín Pereyra scored to put Minnesota ahead in the 77th minute on a give-and-go from James Rodriguez where the Verde & Black were poor defensively.
But two minutes later, Ramírez tied the match to give Austin FC its third straight result.
Ramírez, whom the club picked up five days after the season started, has been better than anyone could anticipate at age 35. He now has four goals and an assist, which all have come in wins or draws.
“This is why we brought him in,” Austin FC coach Nico Estévez said. “We believe in him as a player and a person.”
It’s not just his production, either. Ramírez is solid in the run of play and makes smart decisions. His playing time figures to dwindle once Brandon Vazquez is able to start, but he’s already been worth whatever his salary is.
Luck evening out for Austin FC?
One can make an argument the Verde & Black were lucky with Ramírez’s goal — it deflected off a Minnesota defender — and Uzuni’s score on a penalty — Mikkel Desler’s shot randomly hit a Loons player in the hand in the box to draw it — and wouldn’t be wrong.
However, it’s hard to say Austin FC has had a lot of luck this season with its injury issues. (Winger Jayden Nelson was unavailable Sunday. Owen Wolff, Dani Pereira and Brandon Vazquez are limited to 25 minutes or less due to returning from injuries, and Hines-Ike now may not play again until July.)
And while Sunday the Verde & Black may have gotten some fortunate bounces, they may have been due.
Austin FC struggled on defense in the second half.
Anthony Markanich beat Ilie Sánchez on a header for Minnesota’s first goal and Pereyra was left wide open on the second. Though Rodriguez provided two solid assists, the club can’t continue to give up goals in the final 25 minutes like it has this season.
“We have to do better when teams overload one side,” Estévez said.
Desler put it more bluntly.
“We became too passive in how we put pressure on them,” he said. “They had too much time to build up their attack in our half of the field. We defended for too long and then were tired when we got the ball.”
Bottom line
With a result being difficult to come by Wednesday, this was a good outcome for Austin FC. (As Desler put it: “A draw is acceptable.”)
The club needs to focus on winning Saturday’s home game against Kansas City, which is the worst team in the league and just got hammered 6-0 by Portland, then producing a draw May 23 at St. Louis.
If it does that, Austin FC will have had a very successful final month before the World Cup break with 11 points in six matches.
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ST PAUL, MINNESOTA - MAY 10: Kelvin Yeboah #9 of Minnesota United FC and Jon Bell #15 of Austin FC compete for the ball during the MLS match between Minnesota United FC and Austin FC at Allianz Field on May 10, 2026 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Ellen Schmidt/MLS via Getty Images) (Ellen Schmidt/MLS via Getty Images)
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