MLS Cup Playoffs
The conference finals are set for the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs. Las night we saw another amazing game between LAFC and LA Galaxy. The newest and greatest rivalry in the league has given fans emotions and goals at every single match between the two teams.
The battle of Los Angeles, renamed El Trafico derby has been phenomenal since its inception. For the first time both teams met in the playoffs and produced an eight-goal thriller where defense was only an option players did not want to activate. The final score of 5-3 sends LAFC to the conference finals for the first time as they will face Seattle Sounders.
Carlos Vela and Ibrahimovic
Would you think of any better confrontation between MLS’s two best players? Once again both players were on the scoreboard with Vela scoring the first two goals for the locals LAFC 2-0. But LA Galaxy had resources and pulled a comeback from trailing to 2-0 to 2-2 thanks to a goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
LA Galaxy defense was again deficient though. At 2-2, they could not hold the score much long and were trailing 4-2. Still with 15 minutes left they pulled one goal back but again their defensive deficiency let LAFC forward Diomande, wide opened to score the fifth and last goal of the game.
We may have seen the last game in Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s career after 2 years in LA. The 38 years old forward was very disappointed post-game:
“No one wants to concede a lot of goals, and today, unlucky, we concede five goals. But at the same time, we score three goals. I think the whole season has been like this: We score a couple goals but wen concede much more than we are scoring, and that’s not the way you win, that’s not the way you become champion, and I think we should be sad and disappointed.
Vela added he wants to win the MLS:
“We have to win two more games. We have to prepare our team to be ready and be focused on our goal. That’s the way we are working. We are working on ourselves and that’s a way to be a good team. Nothing else matters.”
Delighted LAFC coach Bradley:
“Normally I come in and I love talking about our football, but to really become a good team to go with football, there’s got to be a mentality and there’s got to be something that when you’ve had games that get away from you, you take the lessons along the way. And then at some moment, against your biggest rival, when obviously everything’s at stake, to see those guys respond at 2-2, that was awesome.
So that’s such as step for this group. How we let them back in it and this kind of stuff — I mean there’s things on a pure football level tonight: not a great start, couldn’t find a balance between when to step up — all these kinds of things. But from the standpoint of as you go through a season you continue to grow and mature and then putting it all on the line at that point in the game, I couldn’t be prouder.”
