A scruffy goal, four minutes into stoppage time
Austin FC went into Providence Park and came away with three points. Oleksandr Svatok struck in the fourth minute of stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win for the visitors against the Portland Timbers.
The goal looked exactly like the kind of finish it was. Joseph Rosales whipped in a corner, Besard Sabovic nodded it back across goal, a Timbers defender got a thigh to it, and Svatok prodded the ball over goalkeeper James Pantemis. Ugly. It counted.
For the Ukrainian defender, it was only his second MLS goal across three partly played seasons. The celebration that followed said plenty about what a night like this means to a team that has spent most of the year going nowhere.
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Ten road trips, no wins, then two in a row
Facundo Torres had put Austin ahead in the 25th minute with a chip over Pantemis after a move involving Rosales and Sabovic. Antony levelled five minutes before the winner, converting a penalty awarded after a VAR check. Referee Guido Gonzales Jr had waved play on before spotting Brandon Hines-Ike’s hand to a cross.
The number that matters sits elsewhere. Austin (6-10-6, 24 points) have now won back-to-back away games after opening the season with 10 straight road trips without a victory. The Texas club sacked Nico Estevez in May off the back of that run.
Fourteenth place, and the gap is shrinking
Austin remain 14th in the Western Conference. They are two points behind LA Galaxy and Seattle now, and five adrift of Minnesota, who sit ninth and hold the final play-off spot.
Portland (8-10-4, 28 points) drop to 11th and lose at home for the first time since Marti Cifuentes took over the dugout. Antony, the scorer on the night, had not found the net since late May after losing his starting place in July under interim coach Jack Cassidy.
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