Photo courtesy of LAFC.
One week removed from having a win snatched from their grasp against San Jose in heartbreaking fashion, LAFC took out all their frustrations on Real Salt Lake on Sunday night. Goals from Bradley Wright-Phillips, Diego Rossi and Brian Rodriguez propelled LAFC to a much-needed three points following its 3-1 result at Rio Tinto Stadium.
“It obviously feels good to bounce back and get the win,” Wright-Phillips said. “I think we had a nice seven-day week of training and then I think today wasn’t the prettiest, but we got three points. We were resilient and that’s what we needed to do.”
The win was important in the standings, as it puts them in fifth place in the Western Conference. More importantly, the three points leaves them one point behind Minnesota United for the fourth spot and three points behind Portland for second place.
LAFC got things going in the 22nd minute. Eduard Atuesta sprung Jose Cifuentes for the penalty area, Cifuentes took a touch before he played a ball into the six-yard box for Diego Rossi, who was open and right in front of goal, Rossi got a touch on the ball, only to see it hit off the post, but fortunately, the ball fell to the foot of Wright-Phillips, and he made good on the rebound shot, shooting the ball off his left foot into the back net. Video Replay was used to determine whether Rossi was offside when Cifuentes sent his cross, but eventually, the goal stood.
LAFC was at it again five minutes later. Cifuentes sprung Rossi for goal with a flawless long ball that Rossi chased down, Rossi found himself one on one with Eric Holt as he dribbled into the penalty area, Rossi deked Holt, then fired a shot just inside the six that beat Keeper Andrew Putna far post to double the LAFC advantage.
LAFC took the lead into the locker room, then tripled it in the 59th minute. Rodriguez took a ball from Wright-Phillips, split two RSL defenders, outraced Damir Kreilach’s slide tackle into the six and chipped a ball over the diving Putna into the back net. RSL did get a goal back in the 64th minute with a little help from LAFC themselves, as a corner kick by Pablo Ruiz was headed by Marcelo Silva and the ball deflected off Eduard Atuesta, but across the goal line for an LAFC own goal. LAFC however made sure the one mistake did not come back to bite them in the end.
“Not our best football. it’s not an easy game to play but the resiliency is important,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said. “We scored three very good goals and then after the own goal I thought we did a good job of concentrating and finishing out the match.”
LAFC finishes its Rocky Mountain Odyssey on Wednesday against the Colorado Rapids before returning home next Sunday for an important matchup with Seattle.
