Extratime Abroad: Austin FC's season ends with Conference Final defeat in L.A.

Austin FC's memorable season came to a disappointing conclusion as they suffered a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to Los Angeles FC in the MLS Western Conference Final.

Goals from Chicho Arango and Kwadwo Opoku along with an own goal from Maxi Urruti were enough to seal a dominant win for LAFC as the Verde barely laid a glove on their opponents in the California sunshine.

LAFC came into the tie as strong favorites starting big names like Giorgio Chiellini and Carlos Vela while Gareth Bale was named on the bench. Dundalk man Jon Gallagher started at left-back for Austin in the biggest game of his career so far.

The home side immediately pushed the Verde back into their own half in a trend that would continue for the entire afternoon as World Cup bound Ecuadorian Jose Cifuentes rattled the bar after getting behind the Austin defence after 17 minutes.

The LA onslaught continued with Denis Bouanga taking the ball around Brad Stuver at the edge of the penalty area, but the former St-Etienne man's shot was cleared off the line by Ruben Gabrielsen.

man,ever, Austin's resistance was broken from the resulting corner as Arango got free of his man and nodded a simple header past Stuver, leaving the Verde chasing the game after 30 minutes.

Josh Wolff will likely have been relieved to get his side in only a goal down at the break but will have been equally frustrated to have the deadlock broken by a set-piece after all their hard work from the rearguard.

The half-time interval did little to change the tide as the hosts came flying out of the blocks once again, forcing Stuver into saves from Vela, Arango and Ryan Hollingshed early after the restart.

Wolff turned to reliable striker Urruti to try and inject some energy to the attack by making the substitution on the hour, but this move turned to disaster as the Argentine nodded the ball into his own net from an LAFC corner with his first touch just seconds after being introduced.

The task now seemed insurmountable for Austin who couldn't seem to buy a bit of luck as a big penalty shout was turned away with 25 minutes to go.

In a rare foray forward, Diego Fagundez appeared to have his foot stepped on just inside the LA penalty area, however the referee surprisingly opted not to award the spot kick even after being sent to view the incident on the pitch-side monitor several times.

The Californians put the game to bed once and for all on 81 minutes as the ball took a wild deflection off Fagundez followed by a wicked bounce on the edge of the Austin box, leaving the defence flatfooted while substitute Opoku produced a composed half volley into the bottom corner to all but confirm his side's place in the MLS Cup.

The game ended in a convincing 3-0 win for LAFC even without any contribution from Bale, who's focus is probably more on keeping his knees intact for the upcoming World Cup than anything else.

The Austin front four, normally so fluid and dangerous, were well and truly stifled by the LA defence in a very tough game to watch for the Verde faithful. However, the side can be proud of a historic season, reaching the final four of the MLS in only their second season having been one of the league's poorest teams in their first.

The Verde recorded the biggest improvement between first and second year teams in league history, being 25 points better off in the regular season than last year and will also be able to look forward to continental football for the first time, qualifying for next season's CONCACAF Champions League.

Higgins and Duff on Sadou Diallo cup final suspensionhttps://t.co/TsD8otTIkWpic.twitter.com/syywXPoRRT

— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) November 9, 2022