Austin FC vs. Colorado Rapids: Takeaways from the Verde & Black's 2-0 loss

Austin FC started the second half of the MLS season with a whimper Saturday night, falling to Colorado 2-0 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in a mostly uninspiring performance in its first contest in two weeks.

It continued a season-long trend for Austin FC of being subpar on the road with little offense. It had no shots on goal and fell to 1-5-3 away from Q2 Stadium as Cole Bassett and Rafael Navarro scored for the Rapids.

Here are some takeaways as Austin FC (6-7-5, 23 points) prepares to host LAFC on Wednesday in its only home match of the month:

Austin FC: more rusty than unlucky

The glass half-full take from this match is that Austin FC was unlucky in that it didn’t receive a penalty after officials failed to review a handball in the box and two deflected balls landed at the feet of Colorado’s two best players in or around the box and they scored. Though those things are true, it’s a bit of a pie-in-the-sky conclusion.

The flipside of that is the Verde & Black didn’t play solid team defense and could have easily lost 5-0 had the Rapids finished their other opportunities. Bassett — one of the league’s best young players and someone Austin FC should have always been aware of — was repeatedly left unmarked around the box and, once again, Austin FC produced almost nothing offensively on the road. In the second half, the Verde & Black also seemed to wear down, which could have been due to the altitude.

More: Two newcomers join Brad Stuver as Austin FC's 'A' players in our midseason grades

Colorado is a decent side with the major advantage of its elevation, however, coming off a two-week break, it would have been nice to see a little more quality from the Verde & Black.

Short roster = survival mode?

When Alonso Ramírez entered the game in the second half, the roster situation Austin FC is in was put on full display. With Dani Pereira and Julio Cascante with their respective national teams at Copa América, Ramírez, a midfielder who is the captain of Austin FC II, was signed to a short-term contract for the match.

It’s been noted in this space multiple times since training camp opened in January that the Verde & Black would have to muddle through the season until roster additions could be made in the summer transfer window, which opens on July 18.

Austin FC did a good job of that through the first half of the year by compiling 23 points and putting itself in the thick of the playoff race. But now with only 16 first-team field players, the Verde & Black are essentially in survival mode until Pereira and Cascante rejoin the team, which won’t be until July 6 at the earliest.

The schedule isn’t kind the rest of the week, either.

LAFC is the best team in the Western Conference on a points-per-game basis and has won six straight MLS matches and eight straight across all competitions. It also features forward Denis Bouanga, who is arguably the best player in the league that doesn’t play for Inter Miami and scored five goals in two games against Austin FC a year ago.

After that, the Verde & Black have only two days off before a road game at Minnesota, which is fourth in the West and has only lost once at home.

Austin FC's man of the match: Owen Wolff

Wolff played the full 90 minutes on the left wing, made a few plays based on pure hustle and produced good runs and passes. If there was anyone on Austin FC who wasn’t affected by the altitude, it was Wolff.

Bottom line

A road game at altitude is never a recipe for a win, so this result alone isn’t cause for major concern, but Austin FC is now staring at the possibility of a rough five weeks before new signings Osman Bukari and Mikkel Desler can play for the team on July 20 against Charlotte.

There are no must-wins in the MLS before September, but Austin FC needs to compile at least a few points in its six matches prior to July 20 so its back isn’t up against the wall for the final 10 games of the season.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin FC vs. Colorado Rapids: Takeaways from the Verde & Black's 2-0 loss