Austin holds off Dallas 2-1 to make Western Conference final

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Moussa Djitté and Sebastián Driussi scored three minutes apart in the first half and Austin FC defeated FC Dallas 2-1 on Sunday night in a Western Conference semifinal of the MLS Cup Playoffs.

No. 2 seed Austin advances to the conference final against No. 1 seed LAFC on Sunday.

In the 26th minute, Djitté picked up a deflected corner kick at the top of the goalie box and zipped the ball past Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes for a 1-0 lead.

In the 29th minute, Driussi stole the ball near midfield, dribbled up field, juked a defender and blasted a shot from the top of the penalty area, beating Paes to his right side. It was Driussi's third goal of the playoffs after scoring 22 goals in the regular season.

Austin's 2-0 lead stood up until Alan Velasco got No.3-seed Dallas on the board in the 65th minute.

One week after rallying from a 2-0 deficit to get past Real Salt Lake, Austin did not allow Dallas to do the same. Austin beat their in-state rival for the first time, having gone 0-3 against Dallas in 2021 and 0-0-2 in the 2022 regular season.

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