Austin FC rallies at home to tie Orlando City: Observations from the home draw

A bit of an opportunity was lost by Austin FC during a frustrating 2-2 tie to Orlando City Sunday at Q2 Stadium.

Sure, getting a point with a tie is better than a loss, but El Tree couldn’t completely take advantage of the visitors playing with two men down in the game’s final 25 minutes. Austin FC had multiple shots go off the post or be barely saved by Orlando goalie Pedro Gallese.

Ercan Kara and Ruan Gregório Teixeira had goals in the first half for the visitors, while Sebastián Driussi scored on a penalty following Orlando’s first red card in the 62nd minute. Moussa Djitté tied the game with a goal in second-half stoppage time for Austin FC.

Here are some observations from the game as Austin FC has a week off before heading on the road to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday for the second time this month in its last match before the international break.

Wild second half helps Austin grab the draw

It was a wild second half, with El Tree coming out of the locker room trailing 2-0, then seeing Rodrigo Schlegel being sent off in the 60th minute after his second yellow card for a hand ball in the course of three minutes.

Driussi converted the penalty, then six minutes later, Orlando City midfielder César Araujo was sent off after kicking Austin FC captain Alex Ring in the groin.

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El Tree dominated the game’s final 20 minutes and extra time, with Djitté having a nice finish in the 95th minute to make sure Austin FC gained a point.

But getting only one goal playing against nine men leaves an unsatisfied feeling.

Playing out of the back backfired

At some point, playing out of the back starting with your goalkeeper can backfire.

It did for Austin FC in the second minute when Brad Stuver didn’t see Orlando City midfielder Júnior Urso on the edge of the box and passed the ball right to him.

Urso quickly found Kara in the middle of the box, who then scored probably the easiest goal of his career on a nice one-touch.

Stuver — who will likely take the play harder than anyone else — has been too good the past 15 months to get mad at, but this was about as poor of an error as a player can commit.

Sloppy starts a theme in home matches?

This was the second straight home game where Austin FC was a bit sloppy in the first half.

It wasn’t nearly as poor as it was two weeks earlier in a 1-0 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy, but its play wasn’t what we’re used to seeing at Q2 Stadium.

Still, Maxi Urruti hit the post with a clinical shot and Julio Cascante had a header that bounced over the goal.

If those attempts are hit slightly different, it’s a 2-2 game going into halftime and the sloppiness would be forgotten.

Ruben Gabrielsen gives way to Kipp Keller

It also has to be noted that center back Ruben Gabrielsen went off with illness in the game’s early moments and was replaced by rookie Kipp Keller.

Keller has a good future, but there’s a noticeable drop-off between the two and losing Gabrielsen is a big hit.

Moussa Djitté makes a crucial contribution

Welcome back, Moussa.

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Djitté hadn’t seen the field since starting against Seattle way back on March 20, so it was a bit of a surprise when he came on late in the game.

He provided a burst of energy and his goal was impressive.

It’s a good sign for Austin FC as the team has significant depth at the forward position.

Austin FC drops to second

It’s easy to overreact to an individual result in the MLS, but the reality is the season is a marathon and not a sprint.

You’d hope that Austin FC would always get three points at home, but 13 games into the season El Tree is in second place in the Western Conference and has the second-most points in the league with 24.

It still leads the MLS in goal differential with 13 and is in good shape overall as it finishes off a tough month with the Galaxy.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin FC rallies to tie Orlando City at home: Here's a breakdown