Latiff Blessing answered Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s brace with a brace of his own in the rubber match of El Trafico at Banc of California Stadium.
If it wasn’t clear before, it should be now; El Trafico is the best rivalry in MLS.
LAFC and the LA Galaxy put on another show in its second and final meeting at Banc of California stadium on Sunday night. Only this time, the roles were reversed, as it was LAFC that came from behind to eventually split the points in a wild 3-3 draw.
“I think we gave a really good game for the crowd, for the people watching on TV, I think today was a wonderful game,” Galaxy head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto said.
Some things did remain the same in this rivalry. Zlatan Ibrahimovic continued his dominance against LAFC, as did Carlos Vela against the Galaxy, Ibrahimovic got another brace and Vela scored the equalizer, not that they were the only ones that delivered for both teams. Cristian Pavon scored his first goal in a Galaxy shirt and provided an assist on Zlatan’s first goal, and Latiff Blessing answered Ibrahimomivc’s brace with a brace of his own.
“The package of things it takes to be a great team, most are going in the right direction,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said. “The last part is still this understanding of in the biggest games, with the emotion and everything, how to still make sure that you try to win, but you don’t do it in a crazy way.”
The first 15 minutes were a emotional roller coaster. The Galaxy got the first goal just two minutes in, as Pavon split Blessing and Eduard Atuesta, dribbled forward, then played a ball to Ibrahimovic, who timed his run perfectly into the penalty area fired a shot that beat Tyler Miller near post to stake the Galaxy to the lead. That lead however lasted about 10 minutes, as Vela played a ball to Beitashour, who sent a cross into the Galaxy penalty area, Diego Rossi headed a ball into the six-yard toward the back post and Blessing came in and sent the point-blank header into the back net to level the match.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic once again put on a show at the expense of LAFC.
The next three minutes however belonged to the Galaxy. The visitors re-took the lead in the 15th minute, as Fabio Alvarez lobbed a ball for Ibrahimovic, Walker Zimmerman tried to cut off the cross, but while he did get his head on the ball, it continued forward, Ibrahimovic got the ball and broke for goal. Sure enough, Ibrahimovic got inside the box, side-stepped Miller and buried the shot for his second of the match. The Galaxy made it a two-goal game a minute later, as Alvarez led another break on goal, played a ball to Pavon, who got inside the penalty area, made a cutting move to evade Zimmerman and fired a shot that beat Miller near post.
“The truth is that we were surprised by the first goal,” LAFC defender Eddie Segura said. “The goals being so quick surprised us but we still kept the same desire to push and play our game.”
Blessing showed that desire to push and play LAFC’s game right before halftime. Vela shot a ball that was deflected off the Galaxy defense, but the ball fell to Blessing, who broke for goal, rounded keeper David Bingham and sent the ball into the empty net to cut into the Galaxy lead. Blessing’s goal turned out to be the confidence-booster LAFC needed, as they equalized early in the second half. Vela played a ball to Mark-Anthony Kaye, who held the ball for a while before sending it back to Vela. Galaxy defender Dave Romney whiffed on the ball, which allowed Vela to sprint for goal, Bingham left his line and Vela sent the shot past Bingham far post to level the match in the 53rd minute.
“We were still winning, we were still playing good, the whole first half,” Ibrahimovic said regarding Blessing’s second goal. “Then you go in the second half and you don’t know if you can keep up the pace and intensity, which is difficult, and they took over more and more, and we were under pressure.”
Vela’s night however was cut short, as he suffered a hamstring injury and was eventually subbed out in the 61st minute. Vela was replaced by the team’s newest edition to the squad, 19-year old Brian Rodriguez, who the team signed as its third Designated Player weeks ago. Rodriguez showed glimpses of his potential in stretches during his time in the match.
“Brian was good,” Bradley said. “You can see that he was confident. He went right at [Rolf] Feltscher on a couple of plays right at the beginning. It still takes a little bit more to get him totally in sync with people.”
Both LAFC and the Galaxy now prepare for key Western Conference matches on Sunday. LAFC hosts
