Zardes Lifts Austin Past NYC

The much heralded but little noticed Gyasi Zardes  made his presence felt as he scored a brace to lead the Austin FC past the New York City FC in a 2-to-1 win. 

Zardes’ goal was his 105th in his MLS career, making him to 10th highest scorer in league history.  He is just the 13th player in league history to reach 100 regular-season goals plateau. 

“I’ve been watching forwards for many years in this league and to see myself join the 100 club, it’s a blessing,” Zardes told reports after the match. “It’s a huge honor. But I always give credit to my teammates, because they help provide the service for us strikers.” 

Zardes’ first goal came in the 7th minute of first half stoppage time, and came as a response to Andres Perea’s score in the opening minutes of the match.  Zardes’ effort gave Austin the momentum going into the locker room at the intermission. 

That momentum was clear as Zardes found the back of the net for second time, just nine minutes into the second half. 

Austin fate in the match was doubtful if not for Zardes’ efforts.  Austin controlled the pace of the match in the final ten minutes of the opening frame, and the first ten minute of the final frame, but other than a spurt 25 minutes into the second half, the contest was all NYC.  NYC out-shot Austin 17-to-9 and would have defeated Austin on expected goals by a margin of 2.3 to 1.2.