LAFC remain undefeated in league play, finally get El Trafico win in Carson

CARSON, Calif. – What was initially a struggle turned to a rout before descending into late-match chaos, but it all added up to a win for LAFC Sunday at Dignity Health Sports Park, 3-2 over a Galaxy team it had never before beaten in Carson through El Trafico's developing lore. 

Things were all even at one after 45 minutes, and two goals in less than two minutes had LAFC home free with just 20 minutes to play. But the Galaxy got the first comeback goal that now seems inevitable in El Trafico, forcing LAFC to ride out the chaos of this rivalry for the final six minutes plus stoppage time.

One Galaxy chance clanged off the post. Another pair were knocked away by a fully extended John McCarthy, and when the dust finally settled, the Black and Gold had their first-ever road win over the Galaxy. 

“There were moments that could have gone either way,” McCarthy said. “There’s some big moments for us to close the game out, and there’s also some big moments for them to get a couple more goals… It wasn’t a pretty game, but we found a way.

Vel-ascension to the mean

There were concerns about Carlos Vela's age and whether he could affect the game like his usual self in the year 2023. The underlying numbers were there, but the end product hadn’t surfaced quite yet.

He entered the week with just a single goal in both league play and Concacaf Champions League play — and as one of the league’s biggest underperformers based on expected goals. Throw in a missed penalty in the second half of LAFC’s Mar. 25 win over FC Dallas, and the questions only kept piling up.

Just six days later, that tally is now six goals across all competitions thanks to a pair of braces in LAFC’s two contests this week. The first came in an essential formality of a second leg against Vancouver in the Champions League quarterfinals. On Sunday, LAFC needed every bit of his brilliance to scrape out all three points.

“When the team is playing well,” Vela said, “other guys are getting more responsibility. Denis scoring a lot of goals, helping when maybe I’m not at my best. That gave me more time to get my rhythm. You know, I’m a little bit old, so I get a slower start… but right now I feel good.”

El Trafico’s all-time leading scorer opened the scoring in the first edition of the 2023 season. A deflected pass from Cifuentes caromed right to Vela who controlled it at the top corner of the box.

It was the only touch he needed before placing a curling, left-footed shot into the back corner of the goal – truly Vela’s bread-and-butter finish.

“Carlos has a very special left foot,” Cherundolo said. “His football IQ is also off the charts, and Carlos has done it time and time again. It’s great to see him finishing in the manner he finishes.”

“I mean, we’re a little bit lucky the rebound came to me,” Vela said. “So the defender was not ready for that. That gave me a lot of time to control the ball, look at the keeper and make my shot.”

Sure, it may have been a little lucky for Vela, but the stats say he’s been one of the league’s unluckiest. One good bounce leading to a well-taken chance is hardly underserved for LAFC’s captain.

After a poor Galaxy throw-in led to an LAFC penalty, Vela stepped to the spot in the 68th minute looking to put LAFC back in front. Calm as could be, he slotted it just right of dead center for his second of the afternoon.

Less than two minutes later, it was his corner that found the head of the birthday boy Ryan Holingshead, who leaned in and beat the keeper back at the near post on what became the match-winning goal. 

“Jump for LA Football Club” rang loud throughout Dignity Health Sports Park, as another second-half avalanche had proven insurmountable for their opposition, this one authored by the man who’s now owned this rivalry for six years. 

Looking at the first-choice XI

It’s hard to take away anything too concrete from the Starting XI for a team’s fifth game in just over two weeks, especially when we consider how adamant Cherundolo has been that many personnel decisions at this stage aren’t reflective of what his best eleven might look like.

But Sunday's match is one circled in Sharpie the minute the schedule is released — and in this case, it was an El Trafico with a real chance to win at Dignity Health for the first time in club history. And despite the fixture congestion, no LAFC player – including John McCarthy – entered Sunday having played the full 90 minutes in consecutive games.

The first-leg dominance against Vancouver allowed Cherundolo to rotate his way through this week’s return leg. A strong showing in the opening hour and change against Austin licensed him to do the same to close out their contest last weekend.

Cherundolo had his full squad available on as much rest as one could ask for, and with the results of the week leading in, he had the luxury of rotating specifically with El Trafico in mind.

“We try to win as many games as possible,” Cherundolo said after Tuesday’s win over Vancouver. That’s been his answer each and every time squad rotation has been mentioned, but he did mention there his team was going to have “plenty of time” to recover ahead of Sunday’s El Trafico.

Up front, it was the three we’ve come to expect in Vela, Dénis Bouanga, and Kwadwo Opoku. But behind them in midfield, even as Timothy Tillman has enjoyed the bulk of the minutes this season, it was Jose Cifuentes who still got the nod alongside Kellyn Acosta and Ilie Sánchez. 

Diego Palacios and Ryan Holingshead manned the outside back positions to nobody’s surprise, and it was Jesus Murillo and Aaron Long as the center back partnership between them. Even as murky as this contest became, they were up to the task in a way no Black and Gold side has been since their inception in 2018.

“[Murillo] played like one of the best center backs in the league,” Cherundolo said. “These are things we know, and he’s proven all last season. We need that, and we needed a strong Murillo tonight as well as Aaron and they showed up.”

You won’t hear it from Cherundolo, and until this team is in a must-win situation in either Champions League or MLS Cup Playoffs, we may never know what his preferred eleven is today. But with the rest and the added stakes of this one, it was a good a day as any to send out his first-choice group.

‘Why do we need to lose?’

Everyone has now played at least seven matches on the season, and today’s result ensures LAFC remains the only one of them still unbeaten. It’s five up and two drawn so far for the Black and Gold, and they’re outscoring league opponents 15-5 – good for the second-best goal differential in MLS.

“If you step outside of the 34-game season,” Holingshead said, “and you just look at every game individually. Every time we step up to a game, we think we’re favored … Why do we need to lose?”

These last two weeks were supposed to be major roadblocks. These games are supposed to trip teams up. They always have for MLS sides chasing a CCL title while trying to remain afloat in the league.

LAFC concluded a stretch of five matches in 16 days with Sunday's win, a run that started at altitude in Colorado on Apr. 1. Even after a 90-minute 0-0 slog played a mile above sea level, the Black and Gold made relatively easy work of the next three and had to fortitude to finish off their rivals in Carson.

Winless in more than four years at BC Place, LAFC cruised past Vancouver 3-0 on Apr. 5. Three days later, in walked an Austin FC side looking for revenge from last season’s Western Conference final — one with significantly more rest leading in.

LAFC turned in another dominant 3-0 showing there before welcoming Vancouver to BMO Stadium for a third match in less than a week. Even with the tie well in hand and the Galaxy looming ahead on Sunday, the Black and Gold dispatched the Whitecaps with another 3-0 trouncing.

Then came today, where even as the proceedings descended into the bedlam that has come to define El Trafico, they emerged out the other side unblemished. LAFC put three goals past its opponent for the fourth straight game, picked up its first-ever win in Carson and conclude this stretch (five matches in 16 days) up 12-2 on aggregate.

“I think today proves that even more,” Hollingshead said, “if we can win the scrappy game when we’re not playing our best, then I think that backs up our position even more to say, ‘Why do we need to lose?’”

There are so many factors that – over a 90-minute sample size – can turn a game any which direction outside of the control of the individuals on the field. But as LAFC continue to turn over result after result in the face of years of precedent suggesting they can’t, maybe losing really is a choice for the Black and Gold.