Josh Wolff praises Sebastian Driussi after Austin FC beat Houston Dynamo

By his own standards, Sebastian Driussi had a quiet game against the Houston Dynamo and, yet, he still managed to curl the ball home to win the game for Austin FC.

That's the thing with a player like Driussi; he's never finished. Defenders can put in the performance of a lifetime to keep him quiet for 65 minutes then, all of a sudden, he'll pull a rabbit out of the hat.

The Argentine's sensational finish to crush Austin's Texas rivals - taking the Verde and Black to the top of the Western Conference at least for now - was his seventh of the 2022 MLS season so far.

Not only is Driussi top of the Golden Boot standings, but he's also many people's early frontrunner for the MVP award. His influence on Austin FC's fortunes is not lost on head coach Josh Wolff.

"I think he's quite a valuable player for us," he said after Saturday's win. "He's quite a valuable player in this league. When you think of the age that he's come at, where he's coming from. His impactful on the field."

It's not just magical moments with Driussi, though. The 26-year-old is an active runner, a hard worker, and he's superb at knitting Austin's attacking play together.

"He's a beautiful player, and he's extremely talented," Wolff continued. "And again, his ability to make other players around him better is incredible. And then, his work rate again is tremendous. His goal was fantastic. I would have liked to see more. I always say that, but he brings a lot to this team, for sure."

Austin had a fairly solid debut season in Major League Soccer, winning nine games and playing some nice soccer. Their 12th-place finish in the West perhaps didn't tell the whole story.

But they look like genuine contenders in their sophomore year, able to overcome adversity and take a few punches without hitting the canvas.

"It's something we talked about a lot in the offseason," Wolff said when comparing 2021 to 2022. "I think game management, understanding what it's gonna look like in the first five to 10 minutes, knowing what we can do to opponents as the game goes on. Being aware of the climate, being aware of what the strengths and weaknesses are of our group and the opponents.

"We learned a lot in the foundation that puts us in a place now where we're operating at a higher level. And there's a real fluidity and understanding because of the work that we did last year. And I think we've refined that and added some players and the execution gets better."

Up next for the Verde and Black is a home tie against the LA Galaxy before a tricky trip to Real Salt Lake.