Another week, another battle to the finish between LAFC and the San Jose Earthquakes.
Two weeks removed from knocking LAFC off the ranks of the unbeaten, the Quakes once again battled to the end against its Southern California rivals, this time on its home field. However, LAFC got the break it needed to this time get out of the match with all three points, as VAR confirmed a San Jose handball inside the penalty area in stoppage time, and Carlos Vela converted the penalty to enable LAFC to escape with the 2-1 win at BMO Stadium.
“We are doing a very good job at managing all minutes,” Vela said “I think everyone is really happy in getting the points and in the place we are right now because we have seen the past years playing in different competitions on the same time and struggling most of the time.”
It started in the 92dn minute, as Vela tried to dribble through several Quakes defenders into the penalty area. The ball took a bounce upward and went off the hand of San Jose’s Tanner Beason. However, referee Ismail Elfath did not immediately make the call, but he soon got the call from VAR official Sorin Stoica, the handball was confirmed and Elfath signaled LAFC to the penalty spot. Vela as he always does, stepped up the spot and succeeded, sending the shot to his right, as Keeper JT Marchinkowski guessed wrong.
Vela’s penalty saved LAFC from dropping points for a second straight match. LAFC got in front just three minutes in, as Jose Cifuentes passed to Stipe Biuk inside the penalty area, and marked by the Quakes’ Paul Marie, Biuk made a quick juke move to his right to create a sightline, then quickly fired a shot that got past Marchinkowski far post to give LAFC the lead.
“It is important to go both ways because if you always go to one way it’s predictable,” Biuk said of his goal. “So, I always practice to right to left so I can go directions.”
LAFC took the lead into the half, but San Jose got the equalizer off a little luck in the 53rd minute. San Jose’s Cristian Espinoza sent a ball for the penalty area, the ball deflected off Biuk, though Espinoza thought it went of Biuk’s hand. Nevertheless, the ball fell the foot of Miguel Traco, and he sent what looked like a harmless ball into the penalty area. LAFC Keeper John McCarthy certainly, as he let the ball go, thinking it was going to miss the back post, but to the surprise of him, his teammates and perhaps even the Quakes, the ball snuck in to that back post net, and the match was suddenly and unexpected tied.
LAFC finishes off a grinding month with the US Open Cup version of El Traffico, as they welcome the LA Galaxy to BMO Stadium.
