Christian Ramirez scored a header in the 82nd minute, giving Austin FC a 1-0 victory over D.C. United on Sunday afternoon.
Ramirez was positioned perfectly at the far post to convert a deflected shot after Besard Sabovic’s effort from the left side drew D.C. United goalkeeper Sean Johnson out of position.
The ball deflected off D.C. defender Matti Peltola and landed right at Ramirez, who was recently signed from the Los Angeles Galaxy two days earlier.
Austin (1-0-1, 4 points) secured its first win of the season after starting with a 2-2 draw against Minnesota United. Goalkeeper Brad Stuver made just two saves (none in the second half), achieving his 39th career clean sheet.
Ramirez’s goal ended a strong performance by Johnson, who made eight saves and was close to earning his second consecutive shutout to begin the 2026 season. D.C. United (1-1-0, 3 points) faced its first defeat after winning 1-0 against Philadelphia in their opener.
Austin created two shots on target in the early minutes, both saved by Johnson: one from Ilie Sanchez in the fifth minute and another from Guilherme Biro in the sixth.
Hosei Kijima had D.C. United’s first shot on goal in the 25th minute, but Stuver made the save to keep the score level. Facundo Torres tried to respond for Austin with a weak left-footed shot a minute later, which Johnson handled easily.
D.C. United’s Joao Peglow challenged Stuver with a volley from outside the box in the 34th minute, but the Austin keeper was ready for it. Brendan Hines-Ike followed with a low-percentage shot two minutes later but failed to score.
Austin outshot D.C. United 7-4 in the first half and led 5-2 in shots on target, although the match remained scoreless.
In the 57th minute, Torres, along with Oleksandr Svatok and Hines-Ike (both in the 68th minute), attempted low-percentage shots that were all stopped by Johnson.