LA Galaxy 4–1 Austin FC, and that is the season
Three games left, and Austin FC's playoff math was already a fiction. The Galaxy put it out of its misery at Dignity Health Sports Park on October 31, 4–1 (1)(2). João Klauss scored the opener, his tenth of the season (6). Hirving Lozano scored his first in two months (1). Sergi Roberto made it four (2). Zan Kolmanic collected a straight red in the 95th minute, which is how a lot of Austin supporters will remember this night.
Fourteen of fifteen in the West. 34 points from 33 games. Minus 21 on goal difference.
The home form is the rot, not the road
Look at the last two weeks in order. A 2–1 win at Sporting Kansas City on October 25, the only win in five (13). Then a 1–2 home defeat to Real Salt Lake on October 28 at Q2 Stadium, with chances at both ends in the first half and nothing to show for it (3). Then the Galaxy.
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That Kansas City result flatters the form line. Kansas City are rolling toward the worst season in their history, and beating them 2–1 says more about their year than yours (13). Myrto Uzuni's third MLS Team of the Matchday selection of 2026 (11) is the one item on this season's ledger that survives the accounting. A leading attacker producing individual recognition in a 34-point team is not a compliment to the squad. It is a warning about what happens when he is not there.
The pipeline is the only thing that worked
Austin FC II were the top seed in the MLS NEXT Pro Western Conference playoffs and went out 0–1 to LAFC2 at Parmer Field, Sebastian Nava scoring in second-half stoppage time (9). That hurts. It also tells you where the actual football was played this year.
The first team responded by signing forward Stefan Dobrijevic on a Short-Term Agreement from that same Austin FC II side before the Galaxy trip (4). Read that as a preview of the winter: the cheapest attack Austin will field next season comes from the academy, not the market.
What to watch
Portland Timbers at Q2 Stadium on Sunday, November 8, is the last match of the 2026 regular season. Chris Applewhite (quad) and Jon Bell (lower abdomen) were both listed out for the Galaxy match and are the first names on the availability report to check (7). Beyond that, Austin announced its 14-match 2027 Sprint Season schedule: home opener against FC Dallas on February 20, 2027, closing away to LA Galaxy (10). That home opener is the clock everyone at the club is now working against.
