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Austin FC defeat St. Louis City; D.C. United win away at NYCFC
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- Austin FC defeat St. Louis City; D.C. United win away at NYCFC
Austin FC defeat St. Louis City; D.C. United win away at NYCFC
There were two games on offer this Sunday in Major League Soccer, as New York City FC face D.C. United , and Austin FC take on St. Louis City SC.
Here's what went down across both matches.
Austin FC secure home win against St. Louis City
Scorers: Christian Ramirez 69'
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Austin FC thought they had taken a first-half lead but, after handling the ball over the line, Guilherme Biro 's goal was quickly ruled out and Biro was given a yellow card.
However, after a trigger happy 45 minutes which saw Austin take ten shots to St. Louis' eight, both sides went in scoreless at the break.
Ten minutes into the second-half, Mikkel Desler played a woeful back-pass which gifted St. Louis acres of space in behind. Fortunately for Desler, Marcel Hartel overplayed his pass to the back-post and Simon Becher could only find the side-netting.
Eventually, Austin FC found the breakthrough as Christian Ramirez scored a diving back-post header off a lofted delivery from substitute Daniel Pereira .
It is the ninth straight match in which St. Louis have conceded the first goal.
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To make matters worse for the visitors, Myrto Uzuni doubled Austin's lead with a first-touch finish off an assist from Ramírez.
So, after a seven-game winless streak, Austin FC have now won two matches on the bounce. St. Louis City, on the other hand, are now winless in their last five matches.
Both sides still sit outside the playoff positions in the Western Conference, with Austin and St. Louis in 11th and 14th place respectively.
Munteanu brace lifts D.C. United to victory over NYCFC
Scorers: Munteanu 29', 75'
D.C. United opened the scoring after Jared Stroud 's long-throw fell to Louis Munteanu in the box. Munteanu was first to react as he fired home from close range.
D.C. continued to dominate proceedings, taking 11 first-half shots to NYCFC's three. But despite their 1.92 xG, the visitors went into the break with just a 1-0 lead.
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Late in the second-half, D.C. United doubled their advantage through yet another long-throw. This time, it fell to Lucas Bartlett , who went down in the box following an aerial challenge from Keaton Parks .
The referee awarded the penalty, allowing Munteanu step up and complete his brace from the spot.
With three goals in last his last two matches, Munteanu has now led D.C. United to back-to-back wins and fifth place in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, NYCFC currently sit ninth in the East, occupying the final playoff position.
