Photo courtesy of LAFC.
Carlos Vela, left, earned his 100th combined goal/assist in MLS on Wednesday night.
Two of the top teams in the Western Conference met in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.
LAFC and Austin FC clashed at Banc of California Stadium. While no one raised any doubt about LAFC’s quality, there were some thoughts as to whether or not Austin FC’s 6-3-2 start going into Wednesday night’s match was legit. Austin had come up short in its first test two weeks ago, as they lost at home to the LA Galaxy.
Austin FC, however, put to rest any doubt about its potential to compete in the Western Conference. Goals from Ruben Gabrielsen and Diego Fagundez got Austin going, and while they had to sweat it out in the end, Austin FC still left LA with the three points in hand following the 2-1 result.
The win vaults Austin over LAFC (7-3-2) for first place in the West. Both teams are at 23 points and have the exact same record. Austin however get the top spot due to goal differential, as its 25 goals are currently one better than LAFC.
Austin relied on some fortunate bounces to get themselves the lead in the 13th minute. Fagundez sent a corner kick into the LAFC penalty area, Carlos Vela headed the corner away from goal to Diego Palacios, who looked pass to Jose Cifuentes, but the pass was cut off by Jhojan Valencia, who then immediately passed to Gabrielsen, who turned, took a little touch that faked Jesus David Murillo to the ground, then fired a shot that beat keeper Maxime Crepeau far post to give Austin FC the lead.
LAFC was gifted two chances themselves in the 17th minute. Danny Musovski pressured Jose Castante into a turnover inside the Austin penalty area, the ball fell to Latiff Blessing, who got a touch on the ball, but not enough to get the ball past keeper Brad Stuver. The ball however fell to Vela, and he immediately one-timed a ball towards goal, but Stuver maintained his poise, and parried the ball out of the penalty area. LAFC had another chance in the 25th minute, as Cifuentes sprung Kwadwo Opoku dribbled into the penalty area and shot for the near post, but Stuver made the save off his left foot, sending the ball over the end line.
Austin got what turned out to the clinching goal in the 80th minute. Sebastian Driussi lobbed a ball to Fagundez, who timed his run perfectly and dribbled towards goal. Maxi Urruti also joined in the attack, forcing LAFC center back Mamadou Fall to defend honestly. Fall chose to watch Urruti and Fagundez, already inside the penalty area chose to take advantage of the space offered to him and capitalized, sending the shot past Crepeau near post to double LAFC’s lead.
Fagundez’s goal turned out to be much needed for Austin FC. Ilie Sanchez sprung Vela with a long ball over the Austin defense and Vela sprinted into the penalty area. Stuver left his line in an attempt to beat Vela to the ball, but ended up clipping Vela’s right leg and referee Armando Villarreal immediately signaled for the penalty spot. Vela stepped up as he has always done for LAFC and came through, sending the shot left into the back net while Stuver guessed wrong, as LAFC pulled a goal back. The goal did carry a milestone for Vela, as it gave him a combined 100 goals and assists.
LAFC though they should’ve gone back to the penalty spot in the 89th minute. As Palacios was set to receive a ball from Cifuentes inside the penalty area, Kipp Keller came in to defend and his right leg made contact with Palacios’ left leg, forcing Palacios to fall to the ground. Despite the contact, referee Villarreal let play continue, though LAFC eventually won a free kick. The play actually went to video review, but Villarreal still did not see enough to call an foul on Keller, which would’ve granted LAFC another penalty. Instead, LAFC had to settle for the free kick, though Austin was able to defend that play successfully.
