LAFC looking to pick up another win on the road
If in fact you never forget your first, the Los Angeles Football Club will have been on the minds of Austin FC players since their inaugural Major League Soccer match, an opening-day defeat in April at Banc of California Stadium.
The Western Conference sides meet again tonight in Texas.
For Austin, a second setback to LAFC (4-4-3, 15 points) would mark the club’s first loss at its new $260 million Q2 Stadium.
Following a pair of scoreless draws at home, Austin (3-5-4, 13 points) secured its initial win in front of more than 20,000 fans six days ago during a frenzied 4-1 triumph over the Portland Timbers.
Fresh off a key first for LAFC in 2021 — a 1-0 win in a nailbiter at Real Salt Lake that stands as the club’s lone away victory this year — taking another three points off Austin would mark the first time in four chances this year that the Black & Gold won consecutive matches.
“We’re going into this game with the mentality to get six points,” LAFC midfielder Latif Blessing said. “I think everybody is ready to go.
“It’s a good opportunity for us to get back to winning ways.”
LAFC head coach Bob Bradley last challenged his players to take backto-back wins when they hosted New York City FC at the end of May. However, a disappointing 2-1 loss led them into a three-week international break.
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Today: LAFC at Austin FC, 6 p.m., BSSC
“We’re a good team,” Bradley said. “The idea that at any given moment, especially when you have a break, sure, everybody feels a lot better going into that break if you take three points. And that’s the challenge for the group. That’s why we said it before the last game.”
The match with Austin precedes a week and a half off before LAFC hosts RSL on July 17.
LAFC’s determined away win Saturday, which Bradley and his players owed to their “mentality,” featured a secondhalf game winner by midfielder Jose Cifuentes. That held up because three minutes later defender Eddie Segura stopped an equalizer with what should rank among the best clearances off the goalline in MLS this year.
“I have watched it many times,” Segura said. “I’m very happy that I was able to help my teammates and also help keep our clean sheet.”
Segura’s effort, along with another stout defensive performance from the team, vaulted LAFC up the standings into the fifth spot in the Western Conference.
Completing consecutive wins on the road would be a great sign for LAFC, which, prior to winning in Utah, posted an abysmal 1-9-2 record in regular-season matches away from Banc of California Stadium in the wake of the MLS Is Back Tournament last summer.