It took just three minutes for LAFC to break through a week ago – thanks to the fifth-fastest goal in club history from Tim Tillman.
But after 90 minutes at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night, there were no goals to be found as LAFC and the Colorado Rapids finished in a 0-0 stalemate.
It may not be the history-making start that could have been theirs with a victory, but 11 points through five games is still miles ahead of the pace the team set in recent years. And with St. Louis falling to Minnesota earlier in the night, the one point is enough to keep them one of just three unbeatens left standing in MLS.
“Credit to Colorado they were able to fight their way back in the game,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said after the match, “but compliment to the boys. They fought hard and defended well and kept a clean sheet on the road. It’s a good point with us, so that’s always good in this league.”
Having dropped the last three in the Mile High City, tonight’s result is the first time LAFC have earned a road point against Colorado since 2018. It came without a shot on target in the second half, but a point away from home is just that.
Right into their hands
Few teams have struggled through the opening stretch of the season as this Rapids team has, but they followed the recipe of the numbers to perfection tonight.
Colorado entered the night around the league average in expected assisted goals allowed and opponent touches in the final third. It takes a meticulous, patient effort to disorganize them, something Cherundolo emphasized earlier in the week.
At the break, there was hardly anything separating the two sides, knotted in a scoreless affair after 45 minutes. The Rapids were certainly playing the game they wanted – nearly dead even across any stat you like – but LAFC still had their chances.
The visitors peppered the Colorado goal over a three-minute stretch starting in the 19th, nearly breaking through on a Carlos Vela header off a clipped-in ball from Diego Palacios. Denis Bouanga also nearly curled one home in first-half stoppage time to open the scoring.
“I thought we started very well in the first 25 minutes,” Cherundolo said. “We created a few chances, and I think we continue down that path we have a great chance of winning the game. But we got knocked off our rhythm.”
The final 45 passed without LAFC testing Rapids goalkeeper William Yarbrough, whose shutout effort was the 28th of his Colorado career – one shy of the all-time club record held by Matt Pickens.
On the other side, the hosts kept turning the opposition's impatience into attacking output of their own – not just hitting on the counter but dominating in possession throughout the second frame.
“Just little things that add up,” observed defender Ryan Hollingshead. "Not playing enough passes, not keeping the ball on the ground enough, too many long balls. Just not really our style of play. So we fell into what they wanted a little bit too much.”
The Rapids nearly doubled LAFC’s shooting output on the way in, putting three of those on target as they racked up an entire expected goal to ultimately no avail. You can point to the altitude, the schedule ahead or even just a lackluster performance, but give Colorado its credit. The hosts knew how to tilt this game their way, and they were able to keep the defending champs at bay as a result.
Corners, corners and more corners
Ten corners. Count ‘em. That was what the final tally for the Rapids on Saturday night.
LAFC entered the night as the worst team in the league in expected goals allowed off set pieces, a stat that's sure to continue after the draw in Denver.
For a team that struggles to find goals, set pieces are as repeatable a method out there to find them, and the Rapids rode it to the doorstop time after time. Of the 1.05 expected goals they generated on the night, 0.92 came via the set piece.
“Everything’s a long ball. Everything’s a deflection. Everything’s a clearance,” Hollingshead said. “At the end of the day, we knew we were going to give up some corner kicks and needed to be clinical on them.”
Repeatedly tested Saturday night – often from point-blank range – John McCarthy recorded a season-high four saves and faced nearly half an expected goal on target en route to his third MLS clean sheet of the season.
In front of him, Aaron Long played just his second full 90 minutes since moving out West. LAFC didn’t concede a goal in either of those games. On a night when the hosts whipped in double-digit corner kicks, his presence in the air was paramount.
The U.S. international won 80% of his duels in the air, including a pair of huge clearances to prevent potential goal-mouth scrambles in the second half. Elsewhere along the backline, none of his new teammates lost an aerial duel of their own, including Hollingshead – who had his fair share of similar chaos-preventing moments in the box.
“Really proud of the guys,” Hollingshead said. “Being able to shut them down on their set pieces like we knew they were going to come try to overload us. So all in all, to get a clean sheet with the amount of corner kicks they had is a really good result.”
Looking ahead
Trap game this. Every game matters that.
Regardless of messaging or school of thought – and an insistence from the likes of Cherundolo, his players and even myself – there was a more important contest on the horizon of Saturday night’s proceedings.
That contest, of course, being Wednesday night’s trip to Vancouver for the first leg of their Concacaf Champions League quarterfinal tie.
LAFC still hasn’t scored a goal in over 180 minutes played away from home against MLS opposition in 2023, and the Black and Gold came up empty in last season’s trip north of the border after an 89th-minute goal from Andrés Cubas gave the Whitecaps the 1-0 victory.
“It’s a big one on Wednesday,” Hollingshead said. “We’ll be ready to go. It’s always just a game of trying to get into all the recovery you can get into, making sure to get sleep on the plane back tonight… That’s the moral of the story for the season.”
Significantly shorthanded a season ago, LAFC nearly stole a point before having it stolen right back in the dying embers. Whatever sour taste that match left sparked a club-record seven-match winning streak, and will likely still linger as they enter BC Place next week.
There’s every reason to believe these CCL matches hold greater significance in that locker room, even if nobody would ever admit to it. If that truly is the underlying cause for the “sloppy” and “unorganized” play – as Cherundolo has characterized it – over the last few games, then leave the panic button in the drawer.
“There are a couple days to recover and prepare for Vancouver,” Cherundolo said. “This rhythm of midweek games, we had a taste of it in the first round of the Champions League, which I think the players enjoyed and did very well and we expect the same.”
But if these last three games indicate an attacking machine truly struggling to find its legs and truly punish teams, then we might be in for a messy midweek.
And a messy midweek on Wednesday could set up a nervy next Tuesday at BMO Stadium, as they look to become just the second MLS side to scale the CCL mountain against an opponent who wants to be the same.