AUSTIN, Texas. (Friday, June 2, 2023) – Real Monarchs (4-7-0, 12 points, 11th in West) suffered a 3-0 loss at Austin FC (6-3-3, 22 points, 2nd in West).
Traveling to Austin with increased confidence after last week's 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City II, Real Monarchs looked to be the aggressors at the start of the match. Both Terron Williams and Jude Wellings fired shots towards goal in the first two minutes, but failed to capitalize against an Austin FC II side that has only allowed nine goals in MLS NEXT Pro. Austin FC II responded in the 18th minute when Emmanual Johnson found himself in a one on one situation against Bobby Pierre, but the defender was able to successfully track back and win the duel, preventing a possible goalscoring opportunity for Austin.
After multiple attempts to get a clean look at goal, on the counter, the Monarchs were finally able to exploit Austin in the 31st minute when Neyman found midfielder Griffin Dillon in the box. Dillon fired a shot from inside the box threatening to put the Monarchs on the board first, but the midfielder missed just left of goal. Austin FC II took advantage of the Monarchs inability to score first and after a successful build-up CJ Fodrey sent a low cross into the box, but it was deflected by Omar Alba. Alba’s deflection soared into the air and was trapped by the foot of Austin’s David Rodríguez who subsequently fired a shot past the Real Monarchs rearguard and into the opposite right corner to take the 1-0 lead. Despite outshooting Austin FC II by six shots Real Monarchs were unable to equalize, going into halftime down 1-0.
At commencement of the second half the City of the Violet Crown side doubled its lead when an ill-timed back pass from Amferny Sinclair towards Derrek Chan allowed David Rodríguez to pick off the ball and fire a shot on an open goal. After going down 2-0 the Monarchs tried to string together periods of possession and find a goal, yet Austin II continued to take advantage of the Monarch’s mistakes.
Austin FC continued the onslaught of goals in the 81st minute when midfielder Valentin Noël scored a third goal for Los Verdes after Christo Vela found the midfielder in the middle of the box. The Austin II side continued to play excellent defense until the final whistle was blown, and held the Monarchs without a single shot on target outside the first minute of the match, securing the 3-0 victory.
UP NEXT: Real Monarchs return to Zions Bank Stadium and will face LA Galaxy II on Friday, June 9 at 8:00pm MT. The match against Galaxy II will be the Monarchs sixth home match of the 2023 campaign.
GOAL SCORING SUMMARY:
ATX II: David Rodríguez 31’: After a deflected cross was collected by Rodríguez the forward fired the shot into the opposite corner of goal past the backline and keeper.
ATX II: David Rodríguez 47’: Upon intercepting a pass from Amferney Sinclair, Rodríguez found himself unmarked in the penalty area with only the keeper to beat and slotted a shot into the bottom right corner with ease.
ATX II: Valentin Nöel (Christo Vela) 81’: Nöel received a heel pass from Vela just above the penalty spot with no defender in front of him and the goal. Nöel took a right footed shot which rolled into the bottom left corner past the hand of the keeper.
Lineups:
Real Monarchs (4-2-3-1): Derrek Chan; Genaro Nigro, Omar Alba, Bobby Pierre, Nicholas Nobles (Gershon Henry 60’); Amferny Arias (Seth Powder 67’), Moses Neyman; Griffin Dillon (Abokye Bikyeombe 83’), Jude Wellings, Julian Vazquez; Terron Williams
Subs not used: Will Makay, Marcelo Mondragon, Duncan Jarvie
Austin FC II (4-3-3): Damian Las; Cheick Touré, Alonso Ramírez (Steeve Louis Jean 83’), Joe Hafferty, Charlie Asensio; Emmanuel Johnson (Christo Vela 73’), Salvatore Mazzaferro, Bobosi Byaruhanga (Jackson Walti 83’); CJ Fodrey (Valentin Noël 68’), Sebastian Pineau (Alfonso Ocampo-Chávez 68’), David Rodríguez
Subs not used: Eric López, Christopher Pinkman, Micah Burton, Jonathan Santillan
Stats Summary: RM / ATX IIShots: 9 / 12
Shots on Goal: 2 / 9
Saves: 6 / 2
Corner Kicks: 2 / 5
Fouls: 10 / 8
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RM: Amferny Sinclair (caution) 20’
