Atoning for poor penalty kick, Vázquez scores winner for Austin FC over defending champs
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Brandon Vázquez scored off a deflection in the 81st minute and Brad Stuver finished off his league-high fifth clean sheet as Austin FC blanked Los Angeles 1-0 on Saturday, keeping the defending champions winless through the season’s first nine weeks.
Vázquez scored his second goal of the year (5-3-1) when he banged in a shot that deflected off of LA defender Emiro Garces.
VERDE LIGHTS: It’s back for another season! Tune in at 11 a.m. Saturdays on CW Austin and KXAN throughout the season.
Vázquez had a penalty kick stopped by Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy in the 67th minute.
Austin defender Brendan Hines-Ike was tagged with a second yellow card in the third minute of second-half stoppage, giving the Galaxy (0-6-3) a man advantage for the final five minutes of extra time — to no avail.
Stuver totaled four saves a week after surrendering four goals to Brian White in a 5-1 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps.
McCarthy saved four shots for the Galaxy. Both keepers had two saves in a scoreless first half.
The Galaxy led the overall series 5-3-1 but fell to 1-3-1 in Austin.
Fifth-year coach Greg Vanney was part of his 400th match for the Galaxy, 232 as a defender for the club.
Austin travels to play the Houston Dynamo on Saturday. The Galaxy are idle until May 4 when they travel to play Sporting Kansas City.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
