Photo courtesy of LAFC.
LAFC needed Maxime Crepeau to come bib between the pipes on Tuesday night.
Matches between LAFC and the Portland Timbers have historically been intense.
Since LAFC joined the league in 2018, they have formed a rivalry with the Timbers that have seen matches go back and forth, with plenty of drama on the field, and in the sidelines, with the postgame conversations between current Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese and former LAFC head coach Bob Bradley not necessarily being the friendliest.
On Tuesday night, in the Round of 32 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, all those things were lacking for the most part. LAFC sure had the intensity, as they got goals from Cristian Arango and Mamadou Fall, and LAFC advanced to the Round of 16 with a rather easy 2-0 win at Banc of California Stadium.
“For the most part, we were satisfied with how we played,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said. “Our match plan was corrected, and the guys implemented it well.”
LAFC jumped ahead in the 32nd minute. Mamadou Fall played Kwadwo Opoku forward with a perfectly weighted ball inside the penalty area, Opoku, who swooped in on the overlapping run, crossed into the six-yard box and Arango flicked a ball off his back heel past keeper David Bingham near post into the back net.
Not satisfied with a one-goal lead, LAFC pressed for more. Fall crossed into the penalty area in the 37th minute, Sebastian Ibeagha tried to one-time a shot attempt, and while the ball was too high for Ibeagha to attempt a shot, he got enough of the ball to send it forward into the six-yard box, where it fell to an unmarked Ilie Sanchez and he immediately looked to capitalize on the gift. Sanchez shot the ball, but Bingham somehow managed to redirect the shot out of bounds. Another chance for LAFC came in the 38th minute, as Jose Cifuentes sent a corner kick into the penalty area, the ball was pucnhed out by Bingham, but Blessing came in and immediately blasted a one-timer just outside the penalty area that was on target, but Bingham dove to his right to deny Blessing, parrying the ball with both hands.
LAFC eventually got that second goal in the 54th minute. Cifuentes sent a corner into the penalty area, the ball bounced inside the box and Fall shot a right-footed volley near the penalty spot that beat Bingham into the back net to give LAFC a comfortable two-goal lead.
“In these close games, plays and set pieces are what unlocks the match, and that’s what happened tonight,” Cherundolo said.
While LAFC’s offense was clicking, Portland’s offense could not muster much for the first 69 minutes. The Timbers however did have a stretch starting in the 70th minute where they did threaten to make the match interesting. LAFC keeper Maxime Crepeau however ensured Portland would not find the back net, as he denied Sebastian Blanco on a point-blank chance and Jaroslaw Niezgoda’s header off a corner. Crepeau came up big again seconds later, and even got some help from the framework. Crepeau beat Blanco to a cross and punched the ball away, but the ball fell to the feet of David Ayala, and in what was the Timbers’ best chance to make a game out of it, Ayala curled a left-footed volley from about 25 yards out towards goal, Crepeau was out of position, but fortunately for him and LAFC, the ball deflected off the crossbar and back out of the box.
