Austin FC fans could be forgiven for experiencing déjà vu Saturday night at Q2 Stadium.
Sebastián Driussi scored the latest goal in club history, volleying home a 101st-minute winner in their 4-3 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes. That gave Driussi a brace, after he opened his 2024 account with a 62nd-minute penalty kick to ignite the comeback result.
The striking resemblance? During Austin's memorable 2022 season, when Driussi was the Landon Donovan MLS MVP runner-up to Nashville SC's Hany Mukhtar, he scored a 94th-minute winner in a 4-3 comeback win over Sporting Kansas City.
The Argentine star simply has a penchant for delivering clutch moments.
"Seba Driussi is one of the best players in the league," head coach Josh Wolff said post-match. "It's clear when we have him and he's healthy, the impact that he makes with our group, both from an emotional standpoint and obviously the quality, is quite clear.
"He makes all the players around him better and it's not surprising that we win two in a row with him on the field and starting and getting good form. He's a catalyst for many things that this club has done over the successful times. He's much, much needed."
A nagging hamstring injury meant Driussi didn't make his 2024 season debut until a 2-2 draw vs. the Philadelphia Union in mid-March. But he's regained fitness, inspiring last week's 2-1 win over Copa Tejas rival FC Dallas and now providing late-game magic against San Jose.
As Driussi reminds the MLS community of his quality, the Verde & Black's No. 10 is doing so before raucous home crowds.
"The energy, the support, the noise, the volume, once you're rewarded with one goal you can see what it does to the group and how it spurs the group on to get the second and the third and the fourth," Wolff said. "A ton of credit to the fans throughout the stadium and I think it's nights like this that show why Q2 is so extremely special and the city of Austin is so special."
Now, Driussi and Austin FC (2W-2L-3D) hope to reach a three-game winning streak when visiting St. Louis CITY SC next Sunday (4:45 pm ET | Apple TV - Free, FOX). They're one point above the reigning Western Conference regular-season champions, recognizing the long road ahead.
"I've said it a number of times, we're a light group," Wolff said. "We don't have a lot of players. So staying healthy is extremely important, the consistency in our performances is really important and the discipline and commitment from the guys has to be there.
"The decision-making and execution is what's going to define success and we'll call it failure, but losses. Losses are opportunities to learn and we've won two, we've lost two, we've tied three. Like many teams in our league right now, we have work to do."
