SAFC posts back-to-back wins behind goals from Emil Cuello and Christian Sorto
SAN ANTONIO (July 31, 2026) – San Antonio FC earned a 3-1 victory over Indy Eleven on Friday night at Toyota Field with a complete performance on both ends of the pitch.
Emil Cuello opened the scoring in the 25th minute, finishing a setup from Christian Sorto to give SAFC the early advantage.
Cristian Parano added to the lead three minutes into the second half off as Mikey Maldonado tiptoed down the endline to find the Argentine for his second goal in as many matches. He doubled his total for the night with a flying finish in the box in 70th minute to put the match out of reach.
The Boys in Blue pulled one back in the final minute of play, but San Antonio saw out the final moments to secure all three points in its first win over the Indiana side.
Scoring Summary
SA: Emil Cuello (Assisted by Christian Sorto) 25’
SA: Cristian Parano (Assisted by Mikey Maldonado) 48’
SA: Cristian Parano (Assisted by Jorge Hernandez) 70’
IND: Josh O’Brien (Assisted by Anthony Herbert) 90+4’
Next Up
San Antonio FC travels to Kentucky for a meeting with Louisville City FC next Saturday, Aug. 8. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. CT, and the match will be broadcast on ESPN+. The 2026 season is presented by Toyota.
Postgame Notes:
- SAFC improves to 8-3-7 on the season with 31 points, remaining in second place in the Western Conference standings.
- San Antonio took its first win over Indy in the five all-time meetings between the teams, having previously drawn 3-3 at Toyota Field in 2023.
- SAFC posted a season-high 24 shots and 639 passes in the match.
- Midfielder Cristian Parano scored in consecutive matches, while defender Emil Cuello scored in back-to-back home matches.
- Parano moves into a tie for second-most goals on the team this season, now with four, and scored his first career brace since 2019.
- Midfielder Jorge Hernandez assisted his league-leading seventh goal of the season.
- Midfielder Mikey Maldonado recorded his second assist of the campaign.
- Forward Christian Sorto assisted his first goal of the regular season.
- San Antonio scored three goals for the third time this year, having last done so on May 27 vs. Sporting Jax.
- SAFC is 6-1-1 this year when scoring the opening goal.
Attendance: 6,145
SAFC Starting XI: Joey Batrouni, Akeem O’Connor-Ward, Alex Crognale, Mitchell Taintor (Captain), Tiago Suarez, Emil Cuello (Nelson Flores Blanco 80’), Mikey Maldonado, Lucio Berron (Curt Calov 73’), Jorge Hernandez, Cristian Parano (Nicky Hernandez 73’), Christian Sorto (Diogo Pacheco 73’)
Substitutions Not Used: Danny Barbir, Angel Mercado, Richard Sanchez, Landry Walker
Disciplinary Summary:
SA: Yellow Card (Lucio Berron) 49’
IND: Yellow Card (Jack Blake) 53’
IND: Yellow Card (Alejandro Heidenreich) 59’
Quotes:
Head Coach Carlos Llamosa
(On the win…)
“Well, tonight I think guys did a great performance controlling the possession of the ball. When we control the ball, we basically control the game, and that was the case tonight from kickoff to the final whistle. I think the guys did pretty well being patient with the ball. When sometimes Indy sat back with numbers, and the spaces weren’t there, we were patient rotating the ball from side-to-side until we found gaps to go forward, but overall, very pleased with the performance.”
(On the team having a complete performance…)
Well, I don’t think that the perfection exists, but we’re trying to be our best, the best way that we can be. Especially at home, we need to be strong. We need to control games. We need to dominate on those games, and tonight, we realize that we can do that. It doesn’t matter who we play against, we can do that, and then away, this season, we’ve won a lot of away games, so it doesn’t matter if it’s home or away, I think we can we can perform and get points, as well.”
Defender Mitchell Taintor
(On the result…)
“I think we had a really good week of training. I think the last two weeks actually have been really good. It’s been intentional. It’s been intense. The effort, attitude, intensity has been there every single day. I think guys are stepping up, and I think this was a really big mental win because it was super hot tonight. It was really hot this week. We knew that if we felt tired and hot, then Indy definitely felt even worse, and we just needed to keep going, so this is all about mentality, keeping them off the board because if they scored, they were just going to sit back, and it could have been one of those type of nights, so I’m really happy that Emil [Cuello] scored the first goal as well. I think he’s been fantastic the last couple months, and so he’s catching form, so again, I think it’s good that we’re starting on the right foot and that other guys are contributing.”
(On Cristian Parano’s brace…)
“Ah, he’s incredible. Even since I got here in 2020, I was really, really excited to play with [Parano]. He’s one of the best players in the league, the best dribbler I’ve ever played with, so he’s an X-factor, and I’m really happy that he’s getting on the score sheet. He’s combining really well with [Jorge Hernandez] and [Christian] Sorto, so yeah, we got to keep those three happy and flowing in a good rhythm.”
(On back-to-back wins…)
“I think we’re moving in the right direction. You know, four wins out the last six is pretty good. I’d sign that every day of the week to go four out of six, especially with some away games. Obviously, there’s things we can always work on, but like I said, for where we are in the season, I think we’re in a good spot. If you look at our schedule for the remainder of the year, it’s against championship-caliber teams, and so it’s going to be a real test of who we are and what our ceiling is going to be at the end of the year, but I feel like our locker room has really come together on a personality level, on a leadership level, on just relationships and the level of teammates that we are, and I think it’s helping us on the field right now.”
Midfielder Jorge Hernandez
(On the team’s chemistry…)
“I feel like we’ve built it out throughout the whole season. We’re more than half of the way through the season, and we know what everybody’s strengths are, and yeah, I just feel like the more we play, the more natural it becomes.”
