LAFC 3- Sacramento Republic FC 2
By Ivan Yeo
Apparently, one wild match against a team from Northern California wasn’t enough for LAFC.
Almost two weeks after a crazy win over the San Jose Earthquakes in which LAFC scored two stoppage goals to steal the three points, LAFC found themselves in another back-and-forth battle, this time against the Sacramento Republic. Tying goals from Benny Feilhaber and Diego Rossi and the winner from Latiff Blessing enabled LAFC to advance in the tournament following it’s 3-2 win at Banc of California Stadium.
Trailing 1-0 heading into the second half, LAFC finally broke through in the 58th minute after a flurry of chances back in the first half went begging. Feilhaber took a ball from Eduard Ateusta, dribbled into the penalty area with little pressure from the Republic defense and fired a shot that got past keeper Josh Cohen into the back net to even the match. The Joy for LAFC however was short-lived, as two minutes after the goal, LAFC found themselves chasing the match again, as Villyan Bijev worked a one-two with Jaime Villarreal and Bijev fired a volley that beat keeper Tyler Miller at the upper right corner.
LAFC however was up for the challenge, and it was Diego Rossi who answered the call. A minute after a potential equalizer hit off the far post, Rossi was sprung for goal from Lee Nguyen in the 66th minute, again Rossi aimed for the far post and this time, he succeeded to level matters once more. Bad luck befuddle Rossi late in the match, as a potential winning goal again bounced off the framework. No worries however for Rossi, as he came up huge again, this time as a facilitator. Rossi sprinted for goal from the right, played a short cross to Blessing, who guided the ball into the back net.
