For the first time ever, a match between LAFC and the San Jose Earthquakes ended in a draw.
The 1-1 draw snapped the Black and Gold’s three-game losing streak but wins are like gold dust for LAFC as they attempt to keep pace in the Western Conference. With ‘Quakes going down to ten men in the 56th minute due to goalkeeper Daniel's straight red card, it felt like LAFC allowed that precious dust to blow away in the wind.
San Jose came into the match with the joint-fewest away points (14) of any MLS team since the start of last season, having only won twice in 27 attempts. Still, LAFC allowed San Jose to leave Los Angeles with a point for the first time since 2020.
While LAFC remained in third place in the Western Conference, the teams around the reigning champions in the table all won on Saturday, tightening the race in the West. Real Salt Lake drew level on 33 points (with an extra match played) following their commanding 4-0 win over Orlando, aided by former LAFC striker Chicho Arango scoring on his debut.
The leaders in the West, St. Louis City SC, also widened the gap on LAFC to five points with their win in Toronto as Sounders built a two-point gap with a win of their own. All this to say, a midweek loss to St. Louis, falling into an eight-point gap with twelve matches remaining, could be detrimental to the Black and Gold’s chances of repeating as Western Conference champions.
Ending the losing streak was a step in the right direction but breaking the winless streak on Wednesday is most important.
Fall struggled in his return to L.A.
Missing three of five central defenders for the match, Steve Cherundolo had no choice but to start Mamadou Fall in his first game back with LAFC. The 20-year-old defender spent the past year or so on loan in Spain with Villareal B, the second team of La Liga side Villareal, making one substitute appearance for the first team in a 1-0 win over Girona.
“Play simple and play the game as it is. Keep it simple and smart,” Fall shared regarding his loan. “I think that is the most valuable lesson that I learned during my time in Spain.”
Unfortunately, the increased maturity that Cherundolo and legendary center-back Giorgio Chiellini have praised Fall for since his return was not visible on Saturday. Post-match, Fall admitted “it was kind of tough” to be inserted into the starting lineup immediately upon his return, something Cherundolo was forced into.
“Throwing Fall in right away without a proper preseason and having him play 90 minutes is never easy," the coach said. "That considered, I think his performance was fine. I think, still some tactical errors in the first half from him — pretty normal and standard for a young defender.”
Those tactical errors included repeatedly leaving himself one-versus-one with Cristian Espinoza, who tormented Fall for the first half-hour of the game, sitting the Senegalese defender on his backside a couple of different times before nutmegging Fall to open the scoring.
“I think it was terrible defensively from me,” Fall openly admitted. “I will take it by myself and they scored.”
The maturity of the young center back to not only face the media but directly shoulder the blame for his mistake is admirable — in his first game back from loan no less. Cherundolo continues to point out that Fall is continuing to evolve tactically. For now, he is extremely athletic, aerially dominant, and has an eye for passing out of the back. It may have been a rough night for Fall, but his talent, humility, and willingness to learn make me certain of his long-term upward trajectory.
Chasing the game
In the past twelve matches in all competitions, LAFC has scored the first goal just once (in their 1-0 win over the Sounders). Prior to this run, LAFC had scored the first goal in four consecutive matches, recording three wins and a draw. That was more wins than they would get in the following twelve matches. When LAFC fall behind, they are forced to chase the game, which does not fit their playing style.
“I think we had a lot of chances last game,” Mateusz Bogusz admitted, not giving excuses for the team’s lack of goal production. “But we need to be more focused on defense because sometimes we lose the goals too easy.”
As Bogusz points out, despite that lack of goal production, the defensive end is the focus in the locker room.
“I can share with you what I told the guys; you have to be able to win a game 1-0,” Cherundolo told the media, giving a rare glimpse into his team talks. “We are conceding some pretty soft goals at the moment, which needs to stop. I think our defensive performance in the first half was poor, much like it was the other night. That needs to change. For us to win a game right now, it’s going to take a 90-minute performance, not just 45.”
Chasing the game with a quality second-half performance, even against 10 men, is a difficult task. What was a very open game in the first half became one-way traffic following Daniel’s red card. San Jose’s 3-5-2 reverted to a compact 5-3-1. LAFC still created chances, but if you don’t finish them, all you’re left with is frustration.
Season stalemate
As mentioned at the top, Saturday marked the first meeting between LAFC and San Jose that ended in a draw. The previous eight meetings have all been won by the home team, including the two previous meetings this season. As a result, the two teams are deadlocked with a 1-1-1 record on the season with an aggregate score of 4-4.
Unsurprisingly, MVP candidates Dénis Bouanga and Cristian Espinoza have led their teams in this matchup, as Espinoza scored three goals to Bouanga’s two, with each bagging on Saturday night. With their respective goals, Espinoza joined five other players on ten league goals this season while they all sit joint-third in the Golden Boot race behind Bouanga, now in second, on twelve goals, only one behind the leader, reigning MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar.
The only way to break the season stalemate would be a first-ever playoff meeting between the two California teams — a scenario that looks increasingly likely.