As the old saying goes, sometimes it’s not how you start but how you finish.
Unfortunately for LAFC, it was exactly how they started, in both the first and second halves, that did them in against the San Jose Earthquakes. Benjamin Kikanovic scored early in the first hand and an early second half strike from Cristian “Chofis” Espinoza was all the Quakes needed to send visiting LAFC down to defeat with a 2-0 result at PayPal Park.
“Overall, it was night where were in all categories, we just weren’t good enough,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said. “Not enough intensity, not sharp, couldn’t make a football play when it mattered.”
In the end, the result wasn’t all bad for LAFC (9-11-6, 33 points), as they remain just three points back of RSL for the seventh and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. However, the Quakes and the Vancouver Whitecaps can also claim that honor, and with just over a month left in the regular season, every point, every result is now in the critical stage for LAFC if they are to make the playoffs.
LAFC fell behind three minutes into the half. San Jose’s Marcos Lopez booted a ball forward, LAFC’s Mamadou Fall headed the ball down, but he headed right to the feet of Javier Lopez, which ignited a Quakes break at goal. Lopez split the LAFC defense with a through ball, which sprung Kikanovic behind the LAFC back line and into the penalty area, keeper Tomas Romero left his line, Kikanovic touched a ball past Romero and sent the ball into the empty net to put San Jose in control early on.
San Jose then struck just two minutes into the second half to maintain control of the match. Oswaldo Alanis played a ball through the LAFC defense to Lopez, who then played a back pass for Kikanovic that was deflected by Fall and punted in the air by Jesus David Lopez. Kim Moon Hwan headed a ball, but back to Lopez, who headed a ball before playing a ball back to Chofis, who one-timed a left-footed shot past Romero into the back net.
“In a big game, you can’t start off each half with bad mistakes,” Bradley said. “San Jose is always a difficult team to play against. It’s a choppy game, it’s hard to get a rhythm, in those ways, we put ourselves in such a difficult spot when we get behind right away.”
LAFC finally started to generate some chances later in the second half. LAFC’s first good look at goal came in the 57th minute, as Murillo sent a long ball into the penalty area, Christian Arango’s header set up Danny Musovski for a chance in the box at the near post, but Quakes keeper JT Marcinkowski closed enough space that Musovski sent the shot harmlessly off the side netting. The next great chance for LAFC, which came in the 69th minute, was one they definitely wanted back. Fall booted a ball forward to Arango, who headed a ball onto the field, Raheem Edwards chested the ball down, played a ball to Jose Cifuentes, who then played Edwards into the penalty area, Edwards sprinted past the San Jose back line, Marcinkowski left his line, Edwards chipped a ball over Marcinkowski, but the ball bounced off the crossbar and over the endline.
“We didn’t take our chances and they (San Jose) took theirs,” Musovski said.
LAFC will have a busy week, but one where they will look to obtain points, as they host the Portland Timbers on Wednesday, followed by the final match of the 2021 El Trafico with the LA Galaxy on Sunday.
