Fit to be tied, though it wasn’t for a lack of effort by both LAFC and Sporting Kansas City.
Both teams were aggressive on offense at BMO Stadium on Saturday night, but near misses combined clutch keeping from keepers Hugo Lloris of LAFC and Tim Melia of Kansas City prevented neither side from collecting the full three points, and the end result was a scoreless draw.
“I think the effort was fine,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said. “LAFC’s teams always put everything on the field and try to win games. We try to be the aggressors, try to play forward and score goals.”
LAFC’s best chance in the first half came in the 11th minute. It started when Timothy Tillman played a ball to Mateusz Bogush, who then touched a ball to Atuesta into the penalty area, Atuesta took a touch into the six-yard box before taking the shot, but keeper Tim Melia just got his right hand on the ball, swatting it over the end line. Kansas City’s best shot came in the 29th minute, as Daniel Salloi pressured Jesus David Murillo into a turnover just outside the LAFC penalty area, Memo Rodriguez played Alan Pulido into the penalty area and shot a ball at goal, but keeper Hugo Lloris came up with the save.
Both teams continued to look for that first goal in the second half. Kansas City came within inches of that first goal in the 52nd minute, as Johnny Russell was just inside the penalty area when he curled a dangerous ball for the back post, only for the ball to bounce off said post and back into play. LAFC then countered, led by Denis Bouanga, who sprung Cristian Olivera forward, Olivera shot a ball just outside the box, but it just missed the far post.\
“We need to cleaner in our game with the ball, especially when we find that final third with the last pass to finish the action,” LAFC midfielder Ilie Sanchez said. “We need to put our forward in better position in a selfish way to finish the play scoring.”
LAFC had one last great look at potentially stealing the three points in the match’s final moments. David Martinez nearly won it by himself in the 84th minute, as he first blocked a Memo Rodriguez pass, then beat Rodriguez to the loose ball and countered for the Kansas City goal. Martinez sidestepped defender Jake Davis as he dribbled into the penalty area, and had Bouanga at the back post, but Martinez took the shot himself, only for the shot to be shanked into the 3252 section.
