LAFC thumps the Earthquakes in a North vs SoCal MLS showdown
The Los Angeles Football Club showed once again why they are the most potent team in the Western Conference after pummeling their NorCal rivals, San Jose Earthquakes. The Southern California squad has been on a recent tear and was able to claim their fifth consecutive victory in a dominant display in front of a raucous crowd.
LAFC took the early lead in the sixth minute of the game. Following a nice attempt from Josh Perez that was blocked by Daniel Vega, Diego Rossi tapped the ball into the back of the net with ease. The goal put the home team ahead 1-0 in the scoreboard and was the beginning of the end for the visiting team.
Bob Bradley’s men continued to apply pressure on San Jose and in the 17th minute that pressure paid off. The VAR would review a handball and penalty called ensued. It was, of course, Carlos Vela who executed the kick to perfection.
Vela continues to make his case for MVP. That was his 25th goal of the season which puts him only six behind Josef Martinez’ MLS record.
The Earthquakes nearly got one back in the 32nd minute when Danny Hoesen found himself wide open, but his shot hit the post. But all Matias Almeyda could do was watch in disbelief.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the Earthquakes and Almeyda, they did. One of the Earthquakes assistants got tossed from the game, and just minutes later, Almeyda appeared to lose his cool and also got tossed from the match.
As far back as I can remember I’ve never seen Almeyda this heated. As before exiting the tunnel, he put his hand on the fourth official to try to get his attention. On his way out, he had verbal altercations with what appeared to be a taunting fan and also one of the security officials that was escorting him out. It will be interesting to see if Major League Soccer decides to review this incident and fine the San Jose head coach.
And just so I can sound like a broken record, here it goes one more time; just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the team from the Bay Area, Cracklitos made sure they did.
The Mexican starlet score what some, including myself, call the goal of the season. It’s too beautiful to describe, so watch it below.
The Earthquakes came out to the field in the second half with a purpose; to stop the bleeding and to let their team continue to get humiliated.
San Jose got very close in the opening moments of the second half but was unable to capitalize. Without Almeyda on the bench, the Earthquakes assistants were forced to make modifications of their own. Mexican forward Carlos Fierro and Chris Wondolowski were brought on and helped San Jose push their lines. Despite that, the Quakes were still unable to get a goal back.
Just when it looked as though the Earthquakes were getting closer, Josh Perez put the final nail in the coffin. The LAFC forward was able to secure his first MLS career goal after having been denied earlier in the evening. He placed the shot just to the right and beat Daniel Vega to give the Angelenos their fourth and final goal.
