(East Los Angeles, CA) April 15, 2022 [From The Editor’s Desk]: Although it is still relatively early in the season, the stage was set by MLS schedulers for the first battle for Los Angeles soccer bragging rights, aka, “El Tráfico #1” that took place at Dignity Health Center in Carson, CA last Saturday afternoon, 4/9. As usual, it was a packed house for this encounter, and the match environment couldn’t have been any better due to both teams playing superb soccer and currently in the Top 5 teams of the Western Conference. Throw in the perfect weather here in Southern California and voilá. There you have it!!
(Match Recap): {1st Half} The first half favored the home team due to their tenacity on offense and their stinginess on defense. The Galaxy drew first blood when their Mega-Star, Juan “Chicharito” Hernández, scored at the (13th) minute with a great put-in from just clear of the box, as he cleanly angled a “header” on an assist by Samuel Grandsir. LAFC countered that, but missed a golden opportunity at minute (22:00) to tie when Carlos Vela’s open field shot hit the left goal post and went awry. He would come back in minute (28:00) with a tremendous left-angled 30 yard Free kick for an apparent goal to tie, but another “off-sides” was called to nullify it. Mr. Momentum then stayed with the Galaxy as they were able to mount another offensive at the Black & Gold’s net at the (37th) minute. This time, with assists credited to Raheem Edwards and Grandsir, they got the ball to Sega Coulibaly, who blasted a bullet-like shot on goal and past LAFC’s goalie, Maxime Crépeau, boosting the score to (2-0). LAFC could not muster any clear-cut strategy to forge their attacks into a goal and thus settled for a (2-0) disadvantage going into the locker room.
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(HALF-TIME Score): L.A. Galaxy 2 LAFC 0
{2nd Half} LAFC must have re-entered the Dignity Health Sports Park with Head Coach Steve Cherundolo’s words ringing in their ears as they began to move about the pitch in a more confident manner. Knowing that their leader-of-the-pack standing was being fiercely challenged, the Black & Gold started to launch waves of attack patterns at the Galaxy. At the (48:00) minute mark, Vela attacked again in a “one-on-one” open field move, but was denied again because of another “off-sides” infraction. Possibly playing to defend their lead and not seek any additional scores, the Galaxy were vulnerable to allowing the Black & Gold to strike a goal for their first score that came at the (79th) minute. This time the honors went to Cristian “Chicho” Arango when he struck a perfect shot into the netting just past the Galaxy’s goalie, Jonathan Bond. It came as a result of a blocked shot attempt by Vela right in front of the goal. The score was now trimmed in half to (2-1) Galaxy.
The play continued at a frantic pace for the final (10:00) minutes of the match as LAFC kept attacking to the end. Due to the volume of cards, injuries, and infractions called, a total of (10:00) minutes of “stoppage time” play was added. Then in the 98th minute of the match, Latif Blessing found himself in the proverbial “right place at the right time” and scorched the back of the net for what everyone in the stadium felt was a tying goal. However, veteran MLS Referee, Chris Penso, who was quite busy for the entire match, with his hand going to his pocket and pulling out “Yellow Card” after “Yellow Card” on (7) occasions, had to rely on the VAR to decide if there was yet another off-sides to nullify the score. After several minutes, Referee Penso issued the MLS officiating “mechanic” of a denied goal. This call sealed the result of the match in favor of the Galaxy. The win moved them up in the standings to 2nd place, with a (4-2-1) record, while LAFC remained atop in first place with a (4-1-1) record.
Galaxy and LAFC fans alike inside of the Dignity Health Sports Park were certainly left breathless after the match, but also very excited to see such a grand display of talent in one of the most “well-watched and followed” rivalries in the MLS. The Clubs will match-up again on Friday, July 8th, 7:00 PM, at Banc of California Stadium.
(FULL-TIME SCORE): L.A. Galaxy 2 LAFC 1 (ATTENDANCE): 25,174
(Next-Up): KC Sporting, Easter Sunday, 4/17. Kick-off is set for 1:00 PM. To Watch, go to ESPN, ESPN Deportes. To Listen, tune into 710 AM ESPN, ESPN App. & KFWB 980 La Mera Mera.
