5 takeaways from Austin FC's 2-1 loss to FC Dallas

Soccer is an ironic sport. In what was by far Austin FC's best showing on the road so far this season, the Verde & Black came away with a 2-1 loss Saturday night to FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium.

Two Austin FC giveaways led to goals by Petar Musa and Jesús Ferreira, with Sebastián Driussi’s late penalty kick — which was his 100th career goal — providing hope for a last-second draw.

Here are some thoughts from the match as Austin FC (4-4-4, 16 points) has a quick turnaround and another Copa Tejas match Wednesday when it hosts Houston:

Silly errors cost El Tree

Austin FC coach Josh Wolff was blunt after the match, noting that his team “gave the game away” and that FC Dallas’ goals were “silly” mistakes by the Verde & Black.

Four minutes into the game, Driussi made a poor backward pass almost directly to Musa, who easily captured the ball and beat Austin FC goalie Brad Stuver. Then early in the second half, too aggressive of a pass by Dani Pereira led to a rough first touch from Jáder Obrian, which allowed Dallas to go on a counter for Ferreira’s goal.

Driussi proved he’s human with a mistake, but there’s not much point in dwelling on it as he’s still one of the top five players in the league not on Inter Miami, and Austin FC would be in a world of hurt without him. Pereira and Obrian have also mostly been good — and are on cheap contracts — and credit has to be given to Musa and Ferreira for clinical finishes, with Musa also providing a brilliant through ball on Ferreira’s goal.

A solid overall performance

While the end result is the only thing that matters, from a pure general play perspective, this was definitively Austin FC’s best performance away from Q2 Stadium and arguably one of its top three of the season.

The Verde & Black had 65% of possession, took 20 shots, finished with an expected goals stat of 1.92 — which is higher than its five previous road matches combined — and looked like the dominant team for long stretches. Part of that is having to be aggressive after falling behind so early and Dallas playing very conservatively, but Wolff and Pereira both noted that the team entered Saturday's match with a more aggressive mentality than other road matches.

Both also pointed to the opponent as a bigger factor in dictating the style Austin FC tends to lean toward on the road, but with a full, healthy roster it’s likely the club would be closer to what it showed Saturday than some previous road matches where it’s had an expected goals stat of less than 0.25 and shot totals below five.

If you think Austin FC maybe got fortunate results in some of its earlier road matches, than it was certainly unlucky Saturday.

Toyota Stadium hex?

Though winning on the road is difficult anywhere in MLS, Toyota Stadium hasn’t been kind to the Verde & Black. Austin FC is 0-4-1 at the venue, with its only result being a 1-1 draw in 2022. It'll get another chance in late July in what may be a key Copa Tejas fixture, as it’s now a wide-open competition with Dallas’ win.

Austin FC man of the match: Brendan Hines-Ike

Along with fellow center back Julio Cascante, Hines-Ike was excellent again. Blame for both of Dallas’ goals goes on the midfield, but the Austin FC back line continued its recent strong form.

Bottom line: the one that got away

This was a lost opportunity for three points on the road for Austin FC, and from both Wolff and Pereira’s comments after the game, the club knows it. But the team has to quickly move on to Houston, and the only cause for concern from this game is left back Guilherme Biro leaving the contest with an injury. Wolff didn’t know the extent of the injury, but with two games later this week, this is not the time for Austin FC to start getting a thin roster again.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 5 takeaways from Austin FC's 2-1 loss to FC Dallas