Photo courtesy of LAFC.
Jose Cifuentes was in a celebratory mood after his performance against the LA Galaxy on Friday night.
Lightning struck again for LAFC on Friday night.
LAFC once again won a match inside a short span of time in the second half. Only this time, it was two goals in two minutes that delivered LAFC the three points, as Jose Cifuentes’ brace and Carlos Vela’s two assists powered LAFC to its first win in the El Trafico rivalry in two years with the 3-2 result at Banc of California Stadium.
“We saw and exciting match tonight,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said. “Tonight we had a little bit more than they did.”
With the win, LAFC solidified its hold on the best record in MLS, improving to 12-4-3 and 39 points five points clear of Austin FC, and also put the Galaxy in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Western Conference. More importantly, LAFC put behind them the painful feeling of its first two losses to the Galaxy, both at Dignity Health Sports Park, earlier in the season, the second of which eliminated LAFC from the US Open Cup and thus prompted a protest from the team’s 3252 Supporters Group in the game following that match.
“Tonight we had to come out and be mentally strong no matter the cost,” Arango said. “We wanted to win in front of our fans, that was our mentality tonight and that was what motivated us for tonight.”
Tied at one deep into the second half, the moment for LAFC came in the 70th minute. Vela held a ball down the right side of the field, passed to Kwadao Opoku, who then passed back to Vela and he sent a left-footed ball into the penalty area, keeper Jonathan Bond dove to his right to stop the ball, but Cifuentes came in and headed a ball into the open net to reclaim the lead for LAFC.
Two minutes later, LAFC was back on the attack, as Vela received a ball from Opoku, Vela then passed forward to Cristian Arango, who made a cutting move to get past Galaxy defender Derrick Williams, then sent the shot past Bond far post to give LAFC the two-goal lead. Arango’s goal turned out to be much needed, as Rayan Raveloson headed a Victor Vasquez cross into the back net to cut the lead to one, but LAFC made sure the Galaxy got no closer.
LAFC let it be known early in the match that this meeting between the two rivals would be far different than the last two meetings. LAFC jumped ahead in the 16th minute, as Kellyn Acosta sent a corner kick into the penalty area and an unmarked Cifuentes headed a ball off Bond into the back net. LAFC took the lead into halftime, but the Galaxy tied the match in the 55th minute, as Rayan Raveloson received a ball from Efrain Alvarez, Raveloson made a back pass, but a trailing Samuel Grandsir came in and buried a shot past keeper Maxime Crepeau to level the score.
LAFC will have the next 11 days to savor this win before they head to Tennessee to face Nashvlle SC, while the Galaxy have a busy week, first with a home match against the San Jose Earthquakes, followed by a road match against Colorado three days later.
