Photo courtesy of LAFC.
Cristian Arango was one again the man for LAFC with two goals against the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday afternoon.
LAFC is not done yet.
After months of inconsistent play and roster turnover that has left them scrambling to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff chase, LAFC finally got out in front against the visiting San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday afternoon and never looked back. LAFC was once again paced by its newest star, Cristian Arango, as his two goals alongside Danny Musovski’s opening score propelled LAFC to a 3-1 win over the Quakes at Banc of California Stadium.
“A big effort from a lot of guys,” said LAFC head coach Bob Bradley. “As you head down this stretch, we talked about how important this home game was to get us going, get some momentum and then now carry that into these next two away games.”
LAFC was off and running minutes into the match. Jose Cifuentes pounced on a loose ball and broke for goal. Cifuentes played Arango into the penalty area, Arango back heeled a ball and Musovski made the perfect run in between two Quakes defenders, Musovski took a quick touch before taking the right-footed shot just outside the six-yard box past keeper James Marchinkowski into the back net at the far post area and LAFC was on the board just three minutes in.
“I think that just puts us in a good position early in the game to go up,” Musovski said of his quick goal. “I think we did a good job of managing it. So yeah, I think overall it’s a good effort from the guys and I think everybody came out with good energy, and yeah, we got the result.”
The Quakes almost had an equalizer in the 23rd minute. Benjamin Kikanovic played a ball forward for Shea Salinas, who touched a ball to Jeremy Ebobisse, who quickly took the shot, keeper Jamal Blackman deflected the ball, and while it did trickle towards an empty net, Blackman’s deflection bought enough time for Kim Moon Hwan to recover and clear the ball just short of the goal line. That missed chance came back to haunt LAFC starting in the 28th minute, as Arango received a ball from Raheem Edwards inside the penalty area, tried to turn, but was tripped by Jackson Yueill and referee Allan Kelly blew his whistled and signaled for the penalty spot. Arango stepped up and buried the penalty to the left post without any resistance, as Arango’s footwork caught Marchinkowski flat footed.
San Jose however was not one to back down from a game, especially since they themselves are still alive in the playoff chase. The Quakes pushed across a goal in the 61st minute, as Javier Lopez sent a corner kick into the six-yard box and Carlos Fierro tapped a ball inside the six and into the back net to cut LAFC’s lead to a goal. LAFC however was able to salt away the remainder of the match, and Arango iced the three crucial points for LAFC in the 88th minute, as Danny Cristomo cleared a ball forward, Brian Rodriguez outraced Yueill to chase down the ball and broke for goal. Rodriguez then played a cross into the penalty area, Arango came in and one-timed a shot past Marchinkowski far post to sow up the win for LAFC.
“We were taking advantage of the small spaces, short spaces,” Arango said. “We were pretty compact in our pressing, and this helps us be closer on recovering the ball. Had we converted each opportunity that we had, the score would have been greater.”
