Lethargic Austin FC drops Leagues Cup opener 3-1 to Mazatlán FC

The trend of Austin FC not performing well in non-MLS competitions continues.

In a very blasé showing, El Tree lost 3-1 to Mazatlán FC of the Mexican league Friday night in its first game of the Leagues Cup competition at Q2 Stadium.

Austin FC now needs to beat FC Juárez — which is thought of as a much stronger team than Mazatlán — on July 29 to have a chance of advancing to the Cup's knockout stage. Mazatlán and Juárez play Tuesday at Q2 Stadium in the group’s other game.

David Colman, Andres Montaño and Eduard Bello scored for Mazatlán, while Diego Fagundez converted a penalty for El Tree’s goal.

Here are some thoughts from the match as Austin FC faces the possibility of another early exit from a competition after losing in the first round of CONCACAF Champions League and the second round of the U.S. Open Cup.

Frustration everywhere

The theme after the game among Austin FC coach Josh Wolff and El Tree players was one of frustration.

Brad Stuver, Adam Lundkvist and Gyasi Zardes — all three of whom were classy in giving their time to a few media members in a mixed zone situation in a hallway where they could have easily walked by — expressed deep disappointment in how the team played, especially at home.

After the game, on the field, Stuver was visibly angry, holding a long conversation with assistant coach Davy Arnaud that had plenty of demonstrative motions.

It was nothing out of line, but it certainly showed he wasn’t happy with what transpired the previous 90 minutes.

When addressing the media, Stuver took the high road and blamed himself for not having the team ready to play at the start of each half. That’s what you expect to hear out of a player with leadership qualities like Stuver, who usually gets trotted out to talk to the media following subpar performances after league games.

But this performance wasn’t on Stuver — in fact, it wasn't even close.

His team defense allowed two long passes and then failed to successfully clear the ball on the first two goals, then Bello was wide open on a through ball in the box on the third. And when it looked like El Tree had all the momentum after tying the game at 1-1, Mazatlán scored less than 30 seconds later to suck the energy out of the home crowd.

That can’t happen.

Meanwhile, the offense produced few chances.

Austin FC didn’t have much energy throughout the contest, which after five days off was puzzling. Zardes getting injured 15 minutes into the match didn’t help things, but aside from some runs and nice play by midfielder Ethan Finlay, there wasn’t much anything of note Austin FC did in attacking.

El Tree ended with 65% possession, which is an exorbitant amount.

You can have the ball all you want, but if you don’t do anything with it, it doesn’t matter.

Depleted starting lineup

Midfielders Sebastián Driussi and Dani Pereira and center back Alex Ring didn’t play, presumably all still nursing injuries received in the last few weeks.

Outside back Jon Gallagher, who played in the MLS all-star game in Washington D.C. 48 hours earlier, came off the bench for Lundkvist midway through the second half.

A lack of his top personnel might be a good excuse, but to his credit Wolff didn’t use it.

And he shouldn’t have, either, as Mazatlán also didn’t play four of its regular starters.

Boring first half

To give you an idea of how uneventful the first 45 minutes were, the TV broadcast begin its halftime highlights with how Zardes and Mazatlán midfielder Yoel Bárcenas got injured and had to leave the game.

The teams combined to have an expected goals stat of 0.33, and some runs by Finlay were the only things of note for El Tree.

Those who had the game on TV at home and slept through the first half were better off for it.

Liga MX is quality

This result shows how good the Mexican league is.

Mazatlán finished last in the previous season and only has one tie to show for its first three games this campaign, but its personnel would easily be competitive in the MLS. The finishes by Colman and Montaño were brilliant strikes of the ball, and Bello’s shot wasn’t far behind.

El Tree now in must-win mode

Austin FC has backed itself against a wall.

It’s going to need Juárez to win by two on Tuesday, then hammer Juárez by three goals or more on July 29 to win the group.

That’s an unlikely scenario.

We won’t officially know what El Tree needs to do until after Tuesday’s game, but its best-case prospect at the moment seems taking second in the group and then heading to LAFC for the knockout stage.

But like in Champions League vs. Violette AC, Austin FC has failed to take advantage of a favorable draw.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin FC flat in all phases as it loses to Mazatlán FC 3-1