Ninety-eight degrees and an hour late
The referee could not start this one on time. Extreme heat in Austin forced a delay of a full hour, and the thermometer still read 98 degrees when Austin FC and the Philadelphia Union finally kicked off. Both sides opened at pace, both faded, and a 1-1 draw felt like the honest outcome of a match played in conditions nobody could sustain.
It was only the second meeting between these clubs. The first came without any of this context. This one produced two goals inside three minutes and then almost nothing for another 70.
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Two corners, two headers
Austin had the first look. In the 14th minute Myrto Uzuni forced a save out of Andre Blake from a difficult angle and Jon Gallagher struck the right post moments later. Philadelphia punished that in the 18th. Milan Iloski took a short corner, worked the ball back and arched it to the far post for Nathan Harriel, who chose the pass over the shot. Cavan Sullivan met it on the other side of the goalmouth and headed into an unguarded net with Brad Stuver stranded.
Austin needed three minutes to reply, and they used the same route. Joseph Rosales curled a corner to the back post, Brendan Hines-Ike climbed above two Philadelphia defenders and put his header beyond Blake.
After that the football drained away. Stuver denied Quinn Sullivan in the 61st and 75th minutes, Blake turned away a Facundo Torres effort from a tight angle in the 70th, and the Jamaican keeper was still making stops four minutes into stoppage time.
Identical records, opposite directions
Austin and Philadelphia now sit on matching lines of 5-10-6 and 21 points, which is a strange way for two teams in such different form to meet in the table. The Verde have taken something from consecutive matches after winning at Seattle in midweek. The Union stretched an unbeaten run to six, a 4-0-2 sequence that has run without a blemish since they came back from the World Cup break.
A point apiece in that heat probably suited Philadelphia more.
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