Photos courtesy of LAFC.
Diego Rossi, right, was the catalyst with four goals against the LA Galaxy on Satruday night.
Different location, different settings, still the same old El Trafico.
While the 2020 version of the LA derby may be missing the passion of the fans and even the setting of LA, and even without Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez on the field, LAFC and the Galaxy still managed to stage its now customary goal fest in this brief but intense rivalry. However, in this match, the second of the MLS is Back tournament for both teams, it was LAFC that did most of the goalscoring, as they first matched the Galaxy goal for goal in the first half, then imposed their will with four second half goal and what was a 2-2 halftime score became a 6-2 runaway win for LAFC.
The win puts LAFC in second place in Group F, two points behind the Portland Timbers and thus sets up a winner-take-all with the Timbers for the top spot in the group on Thursday. LAFC was led by Diego Rossi, who has picked up the offensive slack for LAFC in the wake of Carlos Vela’s absence, as he scored an astounding four goals in the match.
After a back-and-forth first half, LAFC seized control of the second half. LAFC took its first lead of the match in the 56th minute, Diego Rossi sent Brian Rodriguez forward, Rodriguez took a touch before playing Bradley Wright-Phillips into the penalty area, Wright-Phillips held the ball before curling a shot that beat Bingham low and to the far post to put LAFC in front.
The floodgates opened soon after. LAFC doubled its lead in the 75th minute, as Mark-Anthony Kaye played a ball for Rodriguez, took a touch before crossing for Rossi in the box and Rossi fired the shot past Bingham near post to double the LAFC lead. LAFC didn’t let up, as Mohamed El-Munir fired a right-footed volley from about 20 yards out that sailed into the back net near post, then Rossi got his fourth goal of the match in stoppage time, as Francisco Ginella crossed into the six-yard box and Rossi simply tapped the ball into the back net.
Already in a tough spot having lost its opening match to Portland on Monday, the Galaxy’s prospects got even more bleak before the match when it was announced that Chicharito Hernandez strained his calf during midweek training and will end up missing three to four weeks.
However, five minutes in, the Galaxy surprised LAFC. Rolf Feltscher sent a ball into the LAFC penalty area for Emil Cuello, Eduard Autesta cut off the pass, Eddie Segura headed the ball out of the box, but the ball fell to Cristian Pavon, who touched the ball back into the penalty area, played a pass to Sebastian Lletget, who took a touch before playing a back pass for Cuello that deflected off Latiff Blessing and went in for the goal far post for an LAFC own goal and the Galaxy jumped to the early lead. LAFC however caught its own break in the 11th minute, as Perry Kitchen pushed Wright-Phillips inside the penalty area on a set piece, LAFC were awarded the penalty, which Rossi converted a minute later to get LAFC on the board.
The Galaxy however were granted the penalty spot themselves in the Dejan Jakovic committed a foul on Joe Corona inside the 18-yard box. Even the penalty itself had its fair share of drama, Cristian Pavon stepped up to the penalty spot, his penalty spot was saved by Sisniega, Pavon got to the ball, but sent the rebound chance wide left. Pavon however was granted a chance at redemption, as referee Allen Chapman ruled that Sisniega had left his line too early, ordered a retake, and Pavon did not let the second opportunity slip by, as he converted the penalty to put the Galaxy back in front.
LAFC however got an important equalizer in stoppage time. Tristan Blackmon crossed to Kaye, who quickly touched a ball to Wright-Phillips, who took a touch before firing a shot that was saved by Bingham, but the ball fell to Rossi, who fired the rebound shot past Bingham into the back net for a crucial second equalizer right before the half.
