Austin's Brandon Vázquez, Brad Stuver help keep defending-champion Galaxy winless with 1-0 victory

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Brandon Vazquez scored off a deflection in the 81st minute and Brad Stuver finished off his league-high fifth clean sheet as Austin FC blanked Los Angeles 1-0 on Saturday, keeping the defending champions winless through the season's first nine weeks.

Vázquez scored for the first time in his first season with Austin (5-3-1) when he banged in a shot that deflected off of LA defender Emiro Garces.

Austin defender Brendan Hines-Ike was tagged with a second yellow card in the third minute of second-half stoppage, giving the Galaxy (0-6-3) a man advantage for the final five minutes of extra time — to no avail.

Stuver totaled four saves one week after surrendering four goals to Brian White in a 5-1 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

John McCarthy saved four shots for the Galaxy. Both keepers had two saves in a scoreless first half.

The Galaxy lead the overall series 5-3-1 but fall to 1-3-1 in Austin.

Fifth-year coach Greg Vanney participated in his 400th match for the Galaxy — 232 as a defender for the club.

Austin travels to play the Houston Dynamo on Saturday. The Galaxy are idle until May 4 when they travel to play Sporting Kansas City.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer