LAFC Keeps Pace At The Top With Draw

(East Los Angeles, CA) May 14, 2022 {Special Note From The Editor} We apologize for the tardiness of this posting but still need to share it with all of our LAFC followers in a good faith effort. Muchas Gracias for your patience! We will add the posting for today’s match with the Colorado Rapids next.

[From The Editor’s Desk]: At the time of this Home match on 5/7/22, the LAFC were still riding high in the MLS early season standings ledger, remained in 1st place, and continued to be undefeated at home in the very welcoming confines of Banc of California Stadium. It was a great Spring Saturday in town weather-wise, and the temperature reading at “Match-time” was 63 degrees, after a day’s high of 74.

Setting the stage for this battle very briefly, the Philadelphia Union hadn’t faced the Black & Gold for a long time. Their franchise has turned into one of the Top 10 in today’s MLS and they are a problem each and every match they play.

(Pre-Match Festivities/VIPs):  El Grupo 3252 was out in full force during the warm-up period and then through the singing of  the national anthem. Ms. Tunde Oyeneyin, of Nigerian descent, a Professional Make-Up Artist, Peloton Instructor, and Motivational Speaker, performed with Lead Falconer, Ken Miknuk as his assistant on “Olly’s” Falcon’s Flight. Actors, Owen Wilson, the well-known Hollywood actor, and the popular Canadian-American, comedian, actor, and filmmaker, Seth Rogan, were also in attendance.

To View the Match Video Highlights, click here.

(Match Summary): {1st Half} LAFC wasted no time in reaching their attack mode on the visitors. On the other hand, at the (3:00) minute mark, Philadelphia Union (PIU) made an effort at scoring but was way too vertical with their shot. Then it was LAFC’s turn for shot attempts, and they came in bunches but there wasn’t enough of the applied torque and energy to their shots at the (5:00) minute mark. Another shot came at (6:20) but was off the mark. The crowd was adamant for a goal, but the visitors held firm and cleared most attempts

At the (8:45) minute mark, PIU snuck in their 1st goal when the Black & Gold’s backline did not contain their exceptional midfielder, Dániel Gazdag, who slipped it past Maxime Crépeau for a (1-0) PIU lead with the match just barely getting underway. At the (12:00) mark, a Free Kick was awarded to LAFC and El Capitán, Carlos Vela took the shot, but it was off-target.

For the next (25:00) minutes, neither team could muster enough attacking strength or precision to hit the back of the netting. So it was onto the “back-and-forth” mode for the rest of the half.

Then, LAFC broke through the defensive barrier and collaborated on a multiple threat attack but once again, could not force a scoring matter in this attempt at the (41:00) mark. They followed with a corner-kick but the subsequent “header” went wide left. PIU showed a very tight collapsing defense, and it worked well as the half ended with no additional stoppage time.

(HALF-TIME SCORE): Philadelphia Union  1  LAFC  0

(PHOTO GALLERY CREDIT): Javier Perez, East L.A. Sports Scene Productions, LLC/Intern, Cal State Dominguez Hills (CSDUH)

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{2nd Half} The LAFC firepower finally showed up at the (55:00) minute mark when José Cifuentes  spotted Kwadwo Opoku alone on his left flank. Mahala accepted the timely pass and then rocketed it past their outstanding goalie, Andre Blake, making it (1-1) to tie the match. Then, the B & G defense was caught napping when, at minute (66:00) #9/Julian Carranza struck gold with a tremendous left-footed 30 yarder from the right side in traffic, and scored PIU’s tie-breaking shot, for their (2-1) lead.  

Moving to minute (81:00), LAFC answered back to tie the match at (2-2) when #2 Franco Escobar muscled his way to the ball on a rebound. He captured it correctly and fired from just to the right of the goalie, Blake, but he had no chance to block it period. 

Then as time wound down to the finish, and right after the PIU corner-kick and the shot-on-goal attempt was negated, tempers flared “big time” and it led to a “dust-up”  between players, near midfield. This all took place at the (85:00) minute mark. The last few minutes of the match ended in a relative standoff, with both squads seemingly and apparently agreeing with the draw. Referee, Jairo Marrufo asked for a (2:00) minute stoppage time to be added. And that was the end of the hard-fought and yet crowd-pleasing match. For their hard-work on the pitch in this good match-up, the Black & Gold kept its top place ranking in MLS Western Conference play.

(FULL-TIME SCORE): LAFC  2  PHILADELPHIA UNION  2   ATTENDANCE: 22,022

(NEXT UP): Colorado Rapids, Saturday, 5/14. To watch on TV: Univision, TUDN. To listen on Radio/or/Device: 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, TwitterRadio, and 980 AM La Mera Mera