Photo courtesy of LAFC.
Brian Rodriguez and LAFC once again battled Club America to an exciting finish at SoFi Stadium on Wednesday night.
History was made in Southern California on Wednesday night.
Soccer was played for the first time in newest venue in the greater Los Angeles area, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood CA, and it was LA’s two teams, the LA Galaxy and LAFC, that christened the occasion, as they welcomed two of the most Iconic franchises in Liga MX, Club Deportivo Guadalajara and Club America, the Leagues Cup Showcase. The Galaxy kicked off the evening with its match against Chivas, while LAFC matched up with Las Aguilas.
LA Galaxy 2, Chivas Guadalajara 0
Dejan Joveljic got the Galaxy on the scoreboard in the 28th minute. The Galaxy won a corner kick, Efrain Alvarez sent in a left-footed corner into the six-yard box and Joveljic simply touched a ball off his left foot past the Chivas defense and keeper Raul Rangel into the back net. The Galaxy took the lead into the second half, then practically put the match away in the 63rd minute, as Samuel Grandsir led a Galaxy break, played a ball to Jonathan Perez, who touched a ball forward, then fired a left-footed volley at the top of the penalty area and the shot beat Rangel far post to double the Galaxy advantage, an advantage they rode all the way to the win.
Chivas did have some chances themselves to find the back net. Its best chance when Eduardo Torres sent a ball into the penalty area, Miguel Ponce timed his run perfectly to get behind the Galaxy defense and one-timed a shot on goal, keeper Jonathan Klinsmann stopped the shot, but left a rebound chance for Ponce, but Klinsmann held his ground, and denied Ponce’s rebound chance.
Club America 0 (6), LAFC 0 (5)
Facing each other for the first time since the semifinals of the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League tournament, LAFC as they did back in December of 2020, showed they were not the least bit intimidated by the presence of America, or its massive fanbase, who made SoFi Stadium look like Azteca Stadium. LAFC went toe to toe with Las Aguilas, creating chances, getting key stops on defense and ultimately playing America to a scoreless draw, but were unable to come through in the penalty shootout.
The shootout actually did not start out well for LAFC, as the first taker, Diego Palacios, had his shot stopped by Oscar Jimenez, but LAFC keeper John McCarthy came through in the third round by denying Alejandro Zendejas to even the score. The shootout was decided in the seventh round, as Emilio Lara converted his penalty to put America back in front, then Jose Cifuentes skied his penalty into the stands to give America the win.
