LOS ANGELES – Throw the records out the window when El Trafico calls.
The Los Angeles Football Club held off a Galaxy squad that was undefeated in its first matches to start the Major League Soccer season, earning a 2-1 victory at BMO Stadium over their rivals.
The first of three regular season derby encounters went ahead as LAFC was unable to put the match away and the Galaxy failed to penetrate the effective defense of the home team, who accounted for eight shots in block in front of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Timothy Tillman and Denis Bouanga scored their third goal of the season for LAFC, offsetting Galaxy defender Julian Aude’s first MLS goal, all in the first half.
Stuttering its way to the first of three regular-season El Traficos, LAFC (3-3-1, 10 points) sits in ninth place in the standings compared to top-ranked Galaxy (3-1-3, 12 points ). This marks a reversal from the majority of the previous six seasons, when Carson’s five-time MLS champions had a better record than LAFC in just four of their 17 league matches.
Tillman’s simple finish at the far post in the fourth minute gave LAFC what it covets most against any opponent: a lead.
After Bouanga won a corner, Mateusz Bogusz kicked the ball into the box. At the near post, midfielder Ilie Sanchez sent it past the Galaxy defenders, leaving Tillman, who slipped behind the visitors in a white shirt, to redirect the opening goal.
As the half-hour mark approached, the Galaxy tied the game on the last of four shots in five seconds, one more than in the previous 29 minutes.
Midfielder Gaston Brugman allowed Aude to force his way into the LAFC box, where he fired a right-footed shot that would have beaten goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had it not hit the post.
Aude fired another shot off the rebound, but LAFC center back Jesus Murillo stepped in and then blocked Gabriel Pec’s next try.
The ball comes back to Aude and the 21-year-old Argentinian hits it well with his left foot.
No one was there to deny Aude this time around as he scored his first career goal in 28 appearances for the Galaxy.
The visiting players celebrated in the southeast corner of BMO Stadium, where 600 enthusiastic supporters of the five-time MLS Cup champion were gathered for the occasion.
Their enthusiasm for the match faded two minutes later when Bouanga went down in the box on a very fine foul from Japanese defender Miki Yamane, who had caught the trail game from last year’s Golden Boot winner with a sliding tackle.
Referee Jon Freemon spoke to video assistant Younes Marrakchi about to confirm the penalty, which Bouanga slotted into the center for that third goal of the year, considered the winning goal.
The final 45 minutes, plus three minutes of stoppage time, resulted in a well-played and less frenetic version of El Trafico than it has often been.
LAFC had numerous chances to put the game away, notably from Bouanga who scored cleanly in the 80th minute after a low cross from Cristian Olivera, but the French winger smashed his attempt above the crossbar.
The Galaxy forced Lloris to make three saves, including a superb reaction to a strike from visiting top scorer Dejan Jovelic in the 69th minute. Otherwise, LAFC kept the Galaxy’s trio of designated players – Riqui Puig, Gabriel Pec and Killa P’s Joseph Paintseil – at bay, allowing a shot on target between them.
On the other side, John McCarthy, the 2022 MLS Cup most valuable player for LAFC, returned to the site of this match after signing as a free agent with the Galaxy during the offseason and making seven saves .
California Daily Newspapers