Photos courtesy of LAFC.
Dejan Jakovic, left, set the tone for LAFC with his opening goal on Wednesday night against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
14 minutes.
14 minutes was all LAFC needed on impose their will on Wednesday night’s match against the Vancouver Whitecaps. LAFC finally looked like the team that was predicted by many to compete for the MLS Cup title, as four goals within the first 14 minutes enabled LAFC to cruise to a 6-0 win at Banc of California Stadium.
“we started very quickly,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said. “Immediately attacked down the left side. Scoredsome goal off set pieces. A lot of positives. Important forus to have a shutout tonight.”
Bradley Wright-Phillips was the catalyst for LAFC, as he scored two brilliant goals in a five-minute span during those blazing 14 minutes for LAFC. LAFC also got goals from Diego Rossi, Dejan Jakovic and the Whitecaps themselves, as Vancouver found themselves on the wrong end of two own goals. LAFC pulls into sixth place in the conference, three points away from the Western Conference’s top two seeds, Seattle and Portland.
LAFC got going just two minutes into the match, as Brian Rodriguez sent a corner kick into the penalty area and Jakovic headed a shot past keeper Brian Meredith near post to open the scoring for LAFC.
“Brian played in a great ball and I kind of attacked it,” Jakovic said. “I saw it as a good ball and I was able to get my head on it.”
LAFC was just getting started, and it was Wright-Phillips that imposed his will on the match. Wright-Phillips scored in the 6th minute in spectacular fashion, as Rodriguez went short on another corner kick, choosing to pass to Diego Rossi, who sent a ball for the penalty area, but deflected off Vancouver’s Michael Baldisimo, though it still went into the box. The ball bounced inside the penalty area and Wright-Phillips turned and one-timed a volley that beat Meredith near post. Wright-Phillips got his brace in the 11th minute in almost similar fashion, as Rodriguez played a ball to Diego Palacios on the overlap, Palacios played a shorot cross to Rossi, who immediately took the shot, the ball deflected off a Whitecaps defender, but continued towards the six-yard box, Wright-Phillips turned his body basically the same way as his first goal, and the result turned out the same, as he sent the shot past Meredith into the back net. When a Rodriguez cross into the six deflected off Ranko Veselinovic into the back net, LAFC found themselves up 4-0 in just 14 minutes.
LAFC did not let up. Rossi got LAFC’s fifth goal in the 33rd minute, as he took a pass from Eduard Atuesta, went one-on-one with Jake Nerwinski, played a pass to Mark-Anthony Kaye, who completed the give-and-go with a forward pass back to a sprinting Rossi, who one-timed a shot past Meredith far post. LAFC finished off the night in the 69th minute with a sixth goal, as Rodriguez passed to Danny Musovski inside the six, but the ball deflected off the Whitecaps’ Andy Rose and into the back net for a second Vancouver own goal.
“There was a lot of moments where the football was sharp, created good chances, and we feel good about that, and now we just keep going,” Bradley said.
As amazing as the scoreline was for LAFC, it could’ve been even better, as shots by Kaye in the 20th minute and Latiff Blessing in the 76th minute were denied by the framework and a point-blank header by Danny Musovski inside the six-yard box was saved by Meredith.
LAFC look to build off this win on Sunday night when they host the San Jose Earthquakes.
