Gareth Bale's first LAFC start did not go to plan as they were hammered 4-1 by Austin, with the game descending into a mass brawl that needed to be broken up by Giorgio Chielleni.
Bale, 33, made his debut for the MLS club in July and has scored two goals to date. But he was forced to wait until Friday's trip to Austin for his first start. It was a game to forget for the Welshman, who was subbed off in the 60th minute without making an impact.
Austin eased into a 4-0 lead thanks to goals from Diego Fagundez and Sebastian Driussi, as well as a brace from Maximiliano Urruti. LAFC, who remain six points clear at the top of the Western Conference, got a consolation through Cristian Arango.
It all kicked off in Texas when Urruti tried to chase down a long ball. LAFC defender Jesus Murillo watched the ball go out of play and shoulder barged Urruti for good measure. The Austin forward was furious with Murillo's challenge and sprinted towards him.
Urruti then caught Murillo just after he'd taken the throw in. It appeared to be a soft challenge, but that didn't stop Murillo from rolling around on the floor in agony. It also triggered a reaction from LAFC's players, with substitute Chielleni defusing the situation.
A scrap between the two sets of players followed, with three players - including Urruti - going into the referee's book. Bale wasn't involved, wisely deciding to watch the chaos unfold from a distance. The score was 1-0 to Austin at the time.
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Bale produced only two efforts during his full debut and had a worrying pass completion rate of 80 per cent. The Real Madrid icon was hammered by ESPN pundits Stewart Robson and Alan Hinton, with the latter wondering if he even cares about his new team.
"He just didn’t work hard enough," said Robson, who believed the decision to start Bale "backfired". "He was way off the pace and couldn’t affect the game at all. He looked like he had a real lack of energy, which will be a worry going forward."
Hinton added: "Watching LAFC and Gareth Bale starts for first time since he arrived in LA. He will not want to know until Wales are out of World Cup. Lots of talent but strange at times, just be a player I say. Bale subbed after a nightmare. He hardly touched the ball. I suspect he does not care. Players control the game today, that’s good and bad."
LAFC boss Steve Cherundolo wasn't pleased with his players at full-time. "We got a taste of our own medicine tonight," he told reporters. "We got outrun, out-pressed, we didn't create as many errors or mistakes from the opponent, and they capitalised on ours.
"There were also, to add into the mix, some pretty big defensive blunders which we haven't shown all season."
Chielleni added: "The most important mistake was in our head, and the attitude, the concentration, the spirit. This is all the most important stuff on which we have to work. Then arrives the control, the pass, the shoot, the marking – everything is less important than the attitude, than the emotion, than the right feelings, the fire that we have."
