BREAKTHROUGH
LAFC defeats the rival Galaxy for the first time in three tries this season
Could the points-leading Los Angeles Football Club maintain its perfect record when scoring first? Or would the Galaxy once again assert head-to-head dominance in the L.A. derby by spoiling another day in the life of its heated rival?
For more than 90 minutes that answer hung in the balance as the latest edition of the Major League Soccer rivalry unfolded at Banc of California Stadium on Friday.
When referee Armando Villarreal blew the final whistle sealing LAFC's 3-2 victory, it marked the first time in three El Trafico matches this year that LAFC could hold its head high thanks to a pair of goals by Jose Cifuentes and the game winner by Cristian Arango.
LAFC stepped onto their home pitch a dominant 8-0-0 when it jumped out to a lead.
Seventeen minutes into the match, they did just that following Kellyn Acosta's second assist with LAFC. The American midfielder struck a high curving corner kick to the back post that found the unmarked Cifuentes, who headed the ball down to beat Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond for his fourth goal of the season.
Coming into the contest when the opposition scored before they did, the Galaxy managed a 1-5-1 record.
Ten minutes into the second half the Galaxy tiedd the score when Samuel Grandsir struck a low shot through the crowded box that snuck underneath LAFC goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau for his first goal of the season.
Then LAFC went into overdrive, reasserting its second half dominance with a pair of goals in the span of two minutes.
Cifuentes' second goal recaptured LAFC's lead in the 70th minute after darting into the path of a cross from Carlos Vela that curled toward the Galaxy goal.
The redirected header was followed up less than two minutes later. Vela's team-best eighth assist set up Arango's game winner — his fifth goal in the club's last six matches — and gave the Colombian space to move oneon-one against a Galaxy defender before cutting a low shot that steered clear of Bond's reach.