LAFC dominates Seattle for pivotal late-season win

LOS ANGELES — Doing everything it tin to scope the MLS Cup Playoffs, the Los Angeles Football Club is unbeaten successful 5 consecutive matches pursuing a ascendant 3-0 triumph implicit the Western Conference-leading Seattle Sounders connected Tuesday night.

With the remainder of the league playing Wednesday, LAFC and Seattle stepped connected the tract astatine Banc of California Stadium with each eyes connected them battling for a captious 3 points successful the 32nd lucifer of the twelvemonth for some clubs.

LAFC snatched the pb successful the 21st infinitesimal erstwhile a beauteous walk into abstraction by Raheem Edwards recovered Brian Rodriguez streaking down the Seattle defense. The 21-year-old Uruguayan guardant toed his changeable underneath Seattle goalkeeper Sefan Frei.

Before taking the lead, LAFC (12-12-8, 44 points) had been contented to beryllium patiently and hold for Seattle (17-8-7, 58 points) to tally astatine them to make space. Afterward, Coach Bob Bradley’s broadside pushed the inaugural with its counter-press and clamped down wrong the visitors’ fractional of the field.

“In moments erstwhile we are not pressing we are compact, truthful we’re hard to interruption down,” Bradley said. “We made it hard connected the different team, which is important successful large games.

“The squad played with large intensity, the archetypal fractional particularly successful presumption of corporate question and truly closing things down.”

Starting a 3-5-2 formation, Bradley credited the midfield trio featuring Edwards, Latif Blessing and Diego Palacios portion Eduard Atuesta remained retired with a enarthrosis wounded and Jose Cifuentes was suspended owed to yellowish paper accumulation.

“Their strength truly acceptable the code for the remainder of the team,” Bradley said.

LAFC astir picked up a 2nd extremity successful the 38th minute, erstwhile Rodriguez synced up with red-hot guardant Cristian “Chicho” Arango and Latif Blessing for a weaving series that forced a extremity enactment prevention by defender Nouhou Tolo arsenic Rodriguez stood unmarked astatine the acold post.

All play agelong LAFC had conceded goals astatine inopportune moments, but conscionable earlier halftime Blessing sent the hosts into the locker country successful afloat power of the match.

A turnover adjacent the midfield enactment allowed Edwards country to beforehand the ball, which helium did to Kim Moon-Hwan connected the close flank arsenic Blessing slipped unseen to the adjacent post.

The South Korean defender, who received 5 stitches pursuing a hard collision with the referee successful the club’s past lucifer astatine Minnesota, dropped a chipped walk a measurement wrong the 6-yard container that teed up Blessing’s elemental half-volley.

“I americium blessed but not excessively happy,” Blessing said. “We person 2 games to go.”

For the archetypal clip successful a agelong time, the unit valve wrong LAFC’s location stadium was released.

Seattle – present winless successful its past 4 matches – threw a mates of haymakers astatine the commencement of the 2nd half. A Nouhou header banged disconnected the crossbar, and a infinitesimal aboriginal LAFC goalkeeper Jamal Blackman dove to his near to prevention a headed changeable by Fredy Montero that preserved the club’s archetypal shutout (and the archetypal of his MLS career) since a 4-0 rout of Sporting Kansas City successful aboriginal September.

Seattle’s propulsion for a club-record 10th roadworthy triumph this play and its 200th triumph since entering MLS successful 2009 soon subsided, and Arango ended immoderate uncertainty astir the result successful the 51st minute.

Connecting for his 13th extremity successful 15 appearances since joining LAFC successful August, the Colombian guardant hammered a dipping changeable from good extracurricular the container that bushed Frei.

“I decided to instrumentality a changeable due to the fact that successful the archetypal fractional I didn’t person an opportunity,” Arango said. “Thankfully it went in. As a guardant I indispensable person shots different I’m not doing my job.”

The remainder of the lucifer felt similar a solemnisation for LAFC supporters.

Blackman, the 6-foot-7 English goalkeeper who took implicit for Tomas Romero six games ago, made respective elegant saves erstwhile helium was called upon successful beforehand of the 3252 supporters successful the North End, who, on with astir everyone other successful the building, went chaotic erstwhile Carlos Vela returned to enactment for the archetypal clip since Aug. 21.

The 32-year-old Mexican guardant instantly donned the captain’s limb band, and played a coagulated 15 minutes pursuing an arduous betterment from a strained close hamstring and a quadriceps injury, some of which person constricted the 2019 MLS MVP to conscionable 9 afloat matches each year.

“We were each truthful excited to get Carlos backmost connected the field,” Bradley said. “You could perceive it successful the stadium. He’s specified a peculiar player. He’s specified an important portion of what’s gone connected present since the beginning.

“Tonight was conscionable to get him backmost and was besides a mode of truly thanking our fans and letting them cognize that Carlos is moving hard and wants to beryllium connected the field. We’ll spot betwixt present and Tuesday however overmuch advancement helium tin make.”

Arango echoed that sentiment.

“Seeing Carlos instrumentality is simply a blessed feeling for us,” Arango said. “He’s a large leader. The supporters emotion him, and we bash too. Hopefully, we tin person him astir for overmuch much clip and get escaped of those injuries.”

The victory, which capped an 11-day agelong that saw LAFC adhd 10 of a imaginable 12 points to its total, pushed the squad into seventh spot successful the conference, and, pending results from Wednesday’s slate of games, perchance successful presumption to power its ain destiny for a postseason berth.

Vancouver, which is tied with LAFC but down connected 2 tiebreakers, hosts Minnesota United FC earlier its Nov. 2 lucifer astatine LAFC.

NOTES

Both teams were missing cardinal players from past rivalry matchups owed to injuries. Seattle played without Raul Ruidiaz (knee injury) and Joao Paulo (yellow paper accumulation), portion LAFC was without midfielders Eduard Atuesta (right enarthrosis injury), Jose Cifuentes (yellow paper accumulation) and Francisco Ginella (injured). … “Ted Lasso” actors Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt and Brett Goldstein attended the lucifer successful LAFC gear. Hunt, who plays Coach Beard, is an LAFC protagonist and summons holder.