Photo courtesy of LAFC.
Giorgio Chiellini got the start and played 60 minutes for LAFC on Sunday against Nashville SC.
July 17, 2022 will certainly go down as one of the more memorable moments for LAFC.
After weeks of rumors, reports, press conferences and jersey unveilings, it was finally time for LAFC’s two newest, most high profile signings to date to take the pitch for LAFC. On Sunday night, in the middle of the state of Tennessee, at GEODIS Park, home of Nashville SC, the moment came, as Giorgio Chiellini started the match, while Gareth Bale began the match on the bench, but eventually came in in the 72nd minute.
Fortunately for Bale, he was not required for play hero for LAFC, as his teammates had already done the dirty work needed to leave Music City with the three points. LAFC got goals from Cristian Arango and Jose Cifuentes, and both were needed to overcome Hany Mukhtar late first half penalty, and LAFC vaulted themselves back in to first place in the Western Conference with the 2-1 decision.
“It was a hard fought match,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said. “Out football was very good, we connected passes, we were dangerous and we created chances, second half, our press and our defensive structure had a little more energy to it.”
LAFC took the lead in the 27th minute. Chiellini sent a ball forward for Carlos Vela, who then touched it to Ryan Hollingshead, and he dribbled forward to initiate an LAFC attack. Hollingshead passed a ball to Kwadao Opoku, but he instead dummied a ball for Arango, who touched a ball to evade Daniel Lovitz, then sent the shot past keeper Joe Willis far post.
Nashville however caught a break starting in the 39th minute. Lovitz sent a corner kick into the LAFC penalty area, CJ Sapong got himself ahead of Ilie Sanchez and looked to make a play on the ball, Sanchez however pulled on Sapong’s jersey, causing him to go the ground and keeper Maxime Crepeau to make the catch on the corner. At first, play was allowed to continue, but it didn’t take long for the Video Review crew to get a hold of what had happened inside the penalty area, referee Drew Fischer got the call to review the play, which he did. The foul by Sanchez, and Fischer signaled to award Nashville the penalty. Mukhtar stepped up to the spot and sent the penalty off the left post and across the goal line as Crepeau guessed wrong, giving Nashville an all-important equalizer just before halftime.
LAFC however relied on some timely bounces themselves to retake the lead just over 40 seconds into the second half. Vela sent a left-footed ball into the penalty area, Hollingshead perfectly times his run and headed a ball that got past Willis, but bounced off the far post. Arango initially charged for the ball, but overlapped, which actually may have fooled Nashville, as it left Cifuentes with an open net, and he sent the rebound shot past Willis to put LAFC back ahead.
The moment for Bale and LAFC came in the 72nd minute. The Welsh international came in for Cristian Arango in the 72nd minute, Bale did yeoman’s work in his time in the match to help protect LAFC’s lead, though he did display some of his skills that has earned him the reputation as one of the best of the world, which came shortly after he entered the match, as he back-heeled a ball to Kwadao Opoku to get an LAFC break going.
“I’m excited to get my debut out of the way,” said Bale. “I want to try and contribute as much as I can to this team, to try and win games and win trophies.”
Lost in all the Bale talk was the debut of another storied European player. Chiellini started the match and played 60 minutes before being subbed in for Eddie Segura.
“You can train how many times you want, but the game is something different,” said Chiellini. “The rate, the distance, the contact, it’s everything different. And surely the first 15 minutes, I continue to say in my mind, ‘quiet, go easily, and then step by step, minute by minute, surely you’ll feel better,’ and this is what happened. I have the experience to understand this thing. And for me it’s just a preseason, but it’s not preseason, because it’s very important now, these three points.”
With its star-studded debuts now out of the way, not to mention three points and first place in the West, LAFC will now try to further build on this momentum, as they travel to face Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.
