Photo courtesy of LAFC.
Latiff Blessing and LAFC, and Rayan Raveloson and the LA Galaxy treated a nationally televised audience to another El Trafico classic on Saturday.
One thing you can always count on whenever The LA Galaxy and LAFC play against each other; you will be entertained.
Since 2018, it has not mattered how the two teams are doing, or where they are in the standings, El Trafico has always lived up to its billing as a top notch rivalry in MLS, and this season has been no different. LAFC’s Brian Rodriguez and the Galaxy’s Dejan Joveljic were the stars on Saturday at Banc of California Stadium, and they and their respective teammates treated the nationally televised audience to a match that resembled a heavyweight bout, and maybe it was perhaps fitting that the match ended in a 3-3 draw.
“It was amazing,” Joveljic said of the game and the atmosphere in the stadium. “I want to say our fans were amazing. I also want to say our opponents’ fans were also good, but the atmosphere was amazing. I was really enjoying it.”
While both teams delivered on the entertainment aspect of the match, the result is more likely to benefit the Galaxy, who further solidified their hold on the fourth spot in the Western Conference, while the result leaves LAFC still on the outside looking in in terms of the playoff picture.
“Really feel for the guys tonight,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said. “That’s a tough game to tie, feels like a loss, but it’s also especially tough because I thought there are a lot of positives. I loved our response after going down. I thought that generally in terms of just pushing a game, everybody engaged in a good way.”
The two crosstown rivals went toe to toe, goal for goal in a scintillating second half. Rodriguez gave LAFC the lead in spectacular fashion in the 59th minute. It started when Eduard Atuesta split a pair of Galaxy defenders with a ball to Diego Rossi, who was denied by Bond point blank, but Jose Cifuentes kept the play alive and Rodriguez soon received the ball and went to work. Rodriguez first did a step over move to get Sebastian Lletget in the air, Rodriguez then deked Sega Coulibaly to his right, then deked Julian Araujo to his left and all Derrick Williams’ last-minute defending got him was an appearance on the highlight reel as Rodriguez chipped a ball past Bond near post into the top post for a goal that will almost certainly warrant consideration for goal of the week honors.
Photo courtesy of LAFC.
Brian Rodriguez, center, had his coming out party for LAFC on Saturday against the Galaxy.
The Galaxy though were up for the challenge, and pushed across a tying goal in the 64th minute. Araujo played a ball forward for Kevin Cabral, but he couldn’t get a clean touch on the ball. Araujo however recovered the ball, passed to Sebastian Lletget, who then found Joveljic inside the penalty area and Joveljic blasted a left-footed shot past Romero far post to level matters one more time.
The back-and-forth continued as the second half wore on. LAFC surged ahead again in the 67th minute, as Diego Palacios received a ball from Kim Moon Hwan and pushed forward. Palacios then fired a 26-foot volley that was saved by Bond, but Rodriguez was at the right place at the right time, as the ball fell to his feet and he calmly tapped the ball past a scrambling Bond and Williams into the back net to put LAFC back in the lead. The Galaxy however had one last equalizer in them, and it came in the 84th minute, as Efrain Alvarez played Julian Araujo forward, Araujo played a ball back and an unmarked Cabral, who fired from the penalty spot and beat Romero into the back net.
“I think the effort they [the team]put in, the grittiness, the commitment to just stay with it and keep pushing forward as we went down a couple of times was outstanding,” LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said. Guys were gassed and they just kept going, kept pushing and kept fighting. I’m very pleased. It was another point that we got out of character, hard work, and some adjustments along the way.”
The Galaxy caught a break in the 21st minute. Julian Araujo crossed a ball into the penalty area, Jesus David Murillo chested the ball down, but the ball then bounced towards goal and Dejan Joveljic was the beneficiary of that bounce, and he quickly chipped a ball over keeper Tomas Romero and into the back net. The Galaxy had another good chance later in the half, as Araujo rounded Diego Palacios and dribbled into the penalty area, Araujo played a cross for Kevin Cabral, who instead dummied to draw in the LAFC defense, which left Rayan Raveloson with a sightline, but Raveloson’s volley sailed over the framework.
Photo courtesy of the LA Galaxy.
Dejan Joveljic powered the LA Galaxy with a brace against LAFC on Saturday.
LAFC then caught a break of its own towards the end of the half. Palacios sent a cross into the penalty area in the 43rd minute, Arango leaped for a header, but was held by Niko Hamalanien in mid-air, and referee Allen Chapman blew the whitsle and signaled for the penalty spot. Arango stepped up to the spot and a minute later finished the job, sending the penalty off the right post and across the goal line for the equalizer.
“I think in this case, the play off the penalty, had the penalty not been called, I might have had a pretty clear chance at a header,” Arango said. “This is how derbies are. They are close matches at the beginning, and they start opening up as soon as the score opens up, as well.”
The Galaxy will have some time off, as they are idle for the next two weeks. LAFC on the other hand is back at it on Friday, as they host Sporting Kansas City.
