Atlanta United trying to break long skid in matchup with Los Angeles FC
Los Angeles FC coach Steve Cherundolo didn’t have much problem Thursday explaining his team’s recent success.
“The team is in a good way, we’re winning games, scoring goals and not conceding,” Cherundolo said after practice. “We’d like to continue that.”
LAFC will have to fly across three time zones for the right to do that when they visit Atlanta United on Saturday night.
Entering the match with a 6-4-3 mark (21 points), LAFC have won their past four fixtures. While two of them are U.S. Open Cup matches that don’t count in the MLS standings, the 11-1 goal differential grabs one’s attention in a hurry.
Denis Bouanga has been very productive for LAFC, recording five goals and three assists in the team’s past seven matches across all competitions.
Bouanga had both goals in his team’s most recent MLS match — a 2-0 win May 15 at St. Louis — including a clinching steal and score during stoppage time.
“I like to attack the spaces and when I have the opportunity to score or to make a good pass, I do it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Atlanta (3-6-4, 13 points) is in the throes of a nightmarish slump, going 0-4-4 in its past eight MLS matches. The team hasn’t produced a winning result since a 3-0 blanking of struggling Chicago on March 31.
Atlanta’s last match was a 1-1 draw May 18 at Nashville. Bartosz Slisz found the back of the net in the 56th minute to pull Atlanta even. It was the only shot that Atlanta was able to put on frame.
Coach Gonzalo Pineda recently referred to the losing streak as a “down moment” but also said it was fixable. One way Atlanta could correct course is getting more out of its possession time. It ranks fourth in MLS with 54 percent possession.
However, Atlanta is unlikely to have star striker Giorgos Giakoumakis for the match. Giakoumakis, who has a teamhigh five goals, has a lowerbody injury that kept him out of the match in Nashville.