This wasn’t the way Austin FC wanted to start the year. El Tree fell 3-2 to expansion club St. Louis City SC at Q2 Stadium on Saturday night, on opening day of the 2023 MLS season.
João Klauss’ goal in the 86th minute marked the game-winner for the visitors, who also received goals from Tim Parker and former Austin FC player Jared Stroud. Sebastián Driussi and Jon Gallagher found the net for El Tree.
Here are some thoughts from a bad result for Austin FC, which will have a week to stew over this loss before hosting CF Montreal: Kipp Keller had a rough game Center back is officially a concern for Austin FC — and a big one at that.
Julio Cascante going down with an injury in the 10th minute was likely the worst thing that could have happened for Austin FC at the only position on the roster that was already thin. Kipp Keller is a second-year player who’s fine to have on the field for stretches of 10-20 minutes, but he’s not ready to be starting and playing full games.
And to put it bluntly, he had a very poor game after coming on for Cascante, getting beat or making a mistake on all three of St. Louis’ goals. Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver, left, congratulates Kipp Keller for blocking a shot during Saturday night’s season-opening loss at home to St. Louis City SC, an MLS expansion team. Keller received unexpectedly high minutes because of an injury to starting center back Julio Cascante.
Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver, left, congratulates Kipp Keller for blocking a shot during Saturday night’s season-opening loss at home to St. Louis City SC, an MLS expansion team. Keller received unexpectedly high minutes because of an injury to starting center back Julio Cascante.
The most egregious play he made was his lack of awareness of Stroud being behind him on St. Louis’ second goal, where he passed the ball straight to Stroud attempting to get the ball to Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver, essentially gifting St. Louis a goal to tie the game 2-2.
Keller also was beaten badly in a one-on-one situation by Klauss on St. Louis’ winning goal, though credit has to be given to Klauss, who made a good move and had a great finish. It should also be noted that Klauss played for three very good European teams before coming to the MLS.—Agencies
