The Aztexan: Aztex Defeat AC St. Louis, 2-1

Apr 19, 2010

Aztex Defeat AC St. Louis, 2-1

The Aztex survived their first road test on Saturday in St. Louis, beating AC St. Louis 2-1. Though of course it's still very early in the season — 2 games down, 28 to go — Austin fans certainly couldn't ask for a better start.

The Aztex lineup wasn't much changed from the previous weekend's contest against Montreal, except for an early substitution of defender Keiron Bernard in the first half, due to injury. It looked like a hamstring issue, which Bernard has had to deal with before; there's been no word since the game as to how serious it is this time.

Aside from the loss, and despite my pre-game ribbing, congratulations to St. Louis on a solid franchise-opening game. Attendance was just under 5,700, and even via online video it was clear that there was a strong contingent of hardcore fans, complete with smoke bombs.

Here's a rundown of other post-match coverage:

box score — Scorecrow.net

Aztex Take Down AC St. Louis, Remain Unbeaten — AustinAztex.com
The Aztex opened up the game on the offensive, coming up with two corner kicks right off the kickoff. They were unable to capitalize on them, but they put the St. Louis defense on alert for what was later to come.

Forward Eddie Johnson opened the scoring early in the first half to put his team up 1-0. However, the lead would be short lived as AC St. Louis was quick to equalize on a long-range strike that left the St. Louis half of the pitch smothered in smoke from the fireworks erupting in the stands.

AC St. Louis suffers disappointing loss in inaugural home match — St. Louis Globe-Democrat
Claude Anelka stood alone at midfield and tried to explain what had just happened to his AC St. Louis team after their home-opening 2-1 loss to the Austin Aztex at the Soccer Park Saturday night.

“After halftime, it went down very fast,” Anelka said. “I don’ know what to say. I’m very down. It is something I have to talk about with the players.”

Talk, they did. For at least 30 minutes, the team stayed behind closed doors as they tried to figure out how the wheels came off the wagon after battling Austin to a 1-1 draw in the first half of their USSF Division 2 Professional League match.

AC lose to Aztex 2-1, Ralston and Anelka post-game reactions. — AC St. Louis Fanatic
There seemed to be two problems that AC was having last night. First, the Aztex learned to bypass the midfield play and go straight for the strikers. In their first half, when the play was quite even, there was a lot of midfield play. But in the second half, Austin seemed to change their tactics and attack with the long ball down the right hand side, totally bypassing the midfield. This would explain for the lack of play in both midfields as the ball was more of the AC and Austin zones than the middle third of the field.

Note: post also includes audio interviews with AC St. Louis' Steve Ralston and Claude Anelka.

Photos: Austin Aztex at AC St Louis 17 April 2010 — Scott Kane Photography

Some really nice pictures which I am completely unable to share with you here because the photographer has them locked up tight.