The LAFCwith a goal from the Polish Mateusz Bogusz in the second half, won 1-0 in the third and final game of the tie against the Vancouver Whitecaps to not allow any more surprises from the Canadian squad that arrived in the city of Los Angeles very emboldened by the 3-0 victory in the second game.
The victory of the team from the country of the Maple Leaf in the second game was a real surprise for a knockout phase that was thought that the Californian team would win in the first two games, but since in soccer there are no written rules, the tie ended up being extended. to a third match where the local team ended up imposing its law at the BMO stadium on Friday night.
A duel where Mexican Carlos Vela was expected to see action for a few minutes by virtue of his lack of rhythm, but he was only able to go out to warm up without being taken into account during the actions of the victory of the 1 seeded team in the West.
It is true that the team led by the Italian Vanni Sartini was not an “expert in sweets”, far from it, but it forced LAFC to step on the accelerator so that another mess could not occur that would have been one of the big surprises of the MLS playoffs.
But finally it came Mateusz Bogusz’s goal in the 62nd minute in a great individual action, surpassing the mark of Serbian defender Ranko Veselinović, who came out to try to break the inertia of the play. But the Pole, when he hit the ball in front, surpassed it to get into the area and there took an almost cross shot with his left foot that beat the shot of the Japanese goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka.
In this way, LAFC advanced to one of the Western Conference semifinals to face Seattle Sounders, who left the Houston Dynamo on the road, while the other conference semifinal will be defined by the LA Galaxy against Minnesota United.
Vancouver was a tough opponent for LAFC
Nevertheless that the LAFC team always had the inertia of actions On their side, they could never be calm, because when they advanced their lines they were always exposed to the whips from the front in the counterattack by the American of Haitian origin Fafà Picault, his compatriot Brian White and the Scotsman Ryan Gauld who at all times wanted to do him damage to the goal of Frenchman Hugo Lloris.
While the Angelenos, with the Polish Mateusz Bogusz, the French-Gabonian Denis Bouanga and the Uruguayan Cristian Olivera, got into an all-out duel with the defenders of the visiting squad with very few options in the first half.
It’s true that intensity was the characteristic of the actions, but with few clear goal options, despite the fact that the weight of the game always fell on the host squad led by North American Steve Cherundolo.
In this way, both teams remained tied in a tie with more defensive work than clarity up front in the first 45 minutes, especially because the Canadians’ defense gave no respite some, being very careful in destroying the advances of the local team.
However, Denis Bouagna, Los Angeles forward, was able to change the course of the action from the 7th minute when he opened up the visitors’ defense to launch a shot that hit the post.
Afterwards, Vancouver closed its lines again and tried to create danger in front when Brian White tested Hugo Lloris in the 27th minute with a left-footed shot from outside the area that the local goalkeeper launched himself in good shape to deflect the ball.
Even White, once again managed to cause danger when he was very close to opening the scoring in the 43rd minute, after receiving a pass that beat the backs of the Californian defenders, but when he shot at Lloris, again his shot went wide .
LAFC gave him more impetus
For the second half, LAFC modified its actions and with the entry of Frenchman Olivier Giroud, combining with Bouagna inside the area in the 54th minute to shoot and almost take the Canadian goal by surprise.
LAFC finally took advantage in the 62nd minute, when the Whitecaps defender, Andrés Cubas, did not connect well with a clearance in the midfield, giving it to Bogusz, who after taking off the mark of the Serbian defender Ranko Veselinović and beating the Japanese goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka to nest the ball in the nets with the goal that gave them a place in the semi-finals.
Vancouver tied the score in the 74th minute, but Tristán Blackmon shot offside and with that fate was decided in favor of LAFC to face the Seattle Sounders team.
Continue reading:
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-LAFC snatches the lead from the Galaxy at the last minute
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