Austin FC turn two early goals into win over Galaxy

Jader Obrian collected a goal and an assist early in the first half to lift host Austin FC to a 2-0 victory over the first-place Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday afternoon.

Obrian's through ball allowed Diego Rubio to open the scoring in the seventh minute before the former tallied in the 19th minute to double the advantage.

Brad Stuver made five saves to record his third clean sheet of the season and second in a row. He made six saves in a 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo last Saturday.

Alexander Ring notched an assist for Austin FC (4-3-3, 15 points), who have won two in a row and improved to 4-1-0 in their last five matches.

Austin FC recorded their first victory over the Galaxy since posting a 2-0 win on Sept. 26, 2021.

John McCarthy turned aside three shots for Los Angeles (5-2-3, 18 points), which played without Dejan Joveljic (thigh) and saw its two-match winning streak come to a halt. The Galaxy failed to convert any of their 10 corner kicks en route to their first shutout loss of the season.

Austin FC took advantage of a turnover at midfield by Los Angeles midfielder Marky Delgado to open the scoring. Obrian deftly slid a through ball that allowed Rubio to provide the proper finish with his team-leading third goal of the season.

The speedy Obrian extended Austin FC's lead after he ran down a lead pass from Ring before unleashing a blast from the right side of the box that caromed off the far post and into the net. The goal was Obrian's second of the season.

Rubio's bid for a brace was denied in the 63rd minute after McCarthy corralled his low shot.

The Galaxy turned up their intensity in the second half, to no avail. Stuver made a point-blank save on Gabriel Pec in the 83rd minute to preserve the win.

--Field Level Media