Brandon Vazquez rewards Austin FC with Sunday Night Soccer breakout | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

Tenacity, intensity, frustration, resilience, even a dash of desperation… and ultimately, satisfaction tinged with relief.

The emotions were varied and occasionally rather raw for Brandon Vazquez and Austin FC on Sunday afternoon as they held off San Diego FC to bank a hard-won 2-1 win on Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire that pushes the Verde into second place in the MLS Western Conference alongside LAFC just five matches into Nico Estévez’s coaching reign (3W-2L-0D, 9 points).

Arriving from CF Monterrey for a hefty reported $10 million transfer fee over the winter, Vazquez encountered sky-high expectations in the Texas capital city, but had yet to open his scoring account in the season’s opening weeks. His calmly finished breakaway to draw first blood at Q2 Stadium represented a weight off his back, even if he himself rued the litany of missed chances that followed, forcing his side to sweat to the very end as SDFC dominated the final stages.

“Just bliss. I’ve been working my butt off for months with this team for it to finally pay off,” Vazquez told MLS Season Pass’ Andrew Wiebe postgame.

“I’m just super excited we got the win. I’m not satisfied with the performance, because we should have put a lot more in the back of the net, but we’ll keep working at it.”

Building belief

It was hardly the prettiest of displays for the hosts, as San Diego bossed possession to the tun of 69%-31% and forced ATX to bunker in for much of the second half, uncorking 17 shots and forcing three quality saves out of Brad Stuver. Yet the tactical decision to test the expansion side’s back line with searching balls over the top for Vazquez worked like a charm for Estévez, whose FC Dallas sides tended to value possession play to a fault in his tenure in North Texas.

“I can be someone that thinks that we have to high press, as I've done it before, but maybe we have players that feel more comfortable not high pressing,” the Spaniard told reporters after the match, noting San Diego’s “super aggressive” game model influenced his approach. “I can say, 'OK, we have to put crosses, because we think the forwards are good on that, but they're good in tight spaces also, and then I think we're finding a really good way to create quality chances.'

“I always like to talk about quality chances, and it is two ways that I think we can do it, is on transition and also from buildup, drawing opponents’ press up in order to break lines, to attack the space behind the opponents’ back line,” he continued. “We have to learn how to find the sweet [spot] to create quality chances. And I think today we did it.”

The standings only mean so much at this early phase of the season, though Austin’s current position can only build belief in a group still finding itself under new leadership with several newcomers in key areas of the pitch.

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"Keep grinding"

The commitment with which the Verde blocked shots and threw themselves into challenges on an unseasonably hot day in central Texas hinted at a collective desire to keep hold of the positive result on home turf.

“I think it's part of the building a culture, a team that in the difficult moments, it comes together, and it doesn't matter how difficult it is, they get it done,” said Estévez. “Building that resiliency and that character, it goes a long way, because none of the games are going to be easy in this league … We want to keep that mentality that is about building the culture of a team that wants to win, and if it's needed to defend [with] everyone and hang in there until the last minute, they will do it.”

Or as Vazquez put it: “We’ve got a hard-working team. I think we’re going to keep grinding, because we’re not satisfied with the result because of the amount of opportunities we had. I think we just have to keep grinding so we can stay on top of the leaderboard.”

This marks the first loss of San Diego FC’s brief existence. The Chrome-and-Azul remained positive afterwards, though, coach Mikey Varas and his players noting how their shorthanded group dealt with the challenge of Austin’s defend-and-counter tactics – which constitute a compliment of sorts to SDFC’s performances to date.

Luca de la Torre scored his first MLS goal to keep them in striking distance, while several reserves and youngsters acquitted themselves well.

“They caught us in transition; there's some clear learning moments. But at the end of the day, we controlled large portions of the match,” said Varas. “It's about making sure we have a good structure behind the ball in those moments, because they had forwards that were pretty smart in terms of moving into opposite spaces and playing in behind right away – they were quite direct with their transitions.

“For me, as hard as it was to lose, it’s still a net positive game in my opinion, because we lost guys to injury and international duty and these guys came out and wanted to play our game in Austin. That’s a huge credit to them and the direction that we’re going.”

HIGHLIGHTS: Austin FC vs. San Diego FC | March 23, 2025