LAFC finished its long road trip with a dramatic come-from-behind win over the Montreal Impact.
By Ivan Yeo
What a way to end a long road trip.
After a month and a half of plane trips and hotel rooms, LAFC played its sixth straight road match against the Montreal Impact at Stade Saputo. It was also LAFC’s final road match before its long awaited home debut at Banc of California Stadium, and they ended it in dramatic fashion, rallying from a two-goal deficit at halftime to defeat the Impact in a wild 5-3 match in Montreal.
The win pushes LAFC to a 4-2-0 record and second place in the Western Conference. More importantly, it sets a positive mood for LAFC and its fans leading up to its much-anticipated first ever home match next Sunday evening against Seattle.
Trailing 3-1 heading into the second half, LAFC pulled to within a goal in the 52nd minute. Carlos Vela, already inside the penalty area crossed into the six-yard box to Marco Urena, who passed it out of the six to Benny Feilhaber and he sent the shot past keeper Evan Bush at the upper right corner. LAFC got the equalizer five minutes later, as Vela sent a corner kick into the penalty area, the ball bounced inside the box several times, Latif Blessing made a charge for the ball, Impact defender Jukka Raitala tried to clear it out but ended up sending the shot into the back net for a Montreal own goal to knot the match at three apiece.
LAFC wasn’t done yet. Omar Gaber ran the ball into the penalty area in the 82nd minute, Gaber played a ball to Diego Rossi, Montreal defender Daniel Lovitz came in from behind and pushed Rossi down from behind and referee Allen Chapman whistled for the penalty spot. Carlos Vela stepped up to the penalty spot and buried the shot to the left side to put LAFC ahead. LAFC sealed the three points in the 89th minute, as Urena made a cutting move into the penalty area, Urena sent a shot at goal, Bush initially made the save, but could not hold onto the ball and thus spilled it back into play, Blessing made the run, beat Bush to the ball and touched it into the back net.
Early in the match, it looked like Montreal would assert themselves. The Impact staked themselves to a two-goal lead early in the half off the foot of Ignacio Piatti, who scored two goals in a seven-minute span inside the first 16 minutes. LAFC got a goal back in the 24th minute when they won a free kick and Laurent Ciman, playing his first match back in Montreal since being traded during LAFC’s expansion draft back in December, made it a happy homecoming, as he sent the free kick past Bush at the far post area.
Things were looking even better for LAFC in the 31st minute. Vela looked to play Urena into the penalty area, the ball went to Montreal’s Victor Cabrera, but he instead sent it forward, Urena looked to chase it down, but Cabrera pushed Urena to the ground from behind, and LAFC was not only awarded the penalty, but Cabrera was sent off with a straight red card, forcing Montreal to play a man down the rest of the match. Urena stepped up to the spot, sent the shot left, but Bush guessed right, making the save over the endline and thus kept Urena from finding that elusive first goal. Montreal eventually made LAFC pay in the 43rd minute, as Piatti chased down a long ball from Raitala and scored to complete the first half hat trick, which restored Montreal’s two-goal lead going into halftime.
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