Sebastian Driussi scored with his right foot from close range in the 87th minute and Austin FC pulled off more late-game heroics to earn a 1-0 victory over the visiting Houston Dynamo.
It was shades of April 20 when an 86th-minute goal from Emiliano Rigoni gave Austin FC a similar 1-0 victory over the Dynamo.
Austin’s Gyasi Zardes played a major role in the game-winning goal. His centering ball from along the left wing earned Austin FC the late corner kick that led to the goal.
Rigoni sent the ball in from the corner to the front of the Houston goal and Zardes knocked it down with his head before Driussi cleaned up the loose ball for his team-leading fourth goal of the season.
Austin’s Brad Stuver had six saves for his first clean sheet of the season after he had six last season.
Houston goalkeeper Steve Clark finished with three saves.
The Dynamo lost despite controlling the run of play for most of the second half. They had a 17-13 advantage on shots in the game.
The victory allowed Austin FC (5-4-4, 19 points) to jump over their in-state rival in the Western Conference standings. Houston (5-5-2) remained at 17 points after starting the day in seventh place.
Austin FC threatened to score early in the game, getting a shot off the crossbar from Diego Rubio in the opening minute and a bending shot from Alexander Ring in the 20th minute that got past Clark but rebounded off the right post.
Houston failed to score despite bringing on midfield playmaker Hector Herrera in the 61st minute in just his fifth appearance of the season after an early injury.
Austin FC is now 6-3-0 all time against the Dynamo and have won each of the last five games in the rivalry that were played at Austin.
–Field Level Media