Vela continues MVP run as LAFC tramples DC United on the road
The 2019 Carlos Vela MVP season campaign continued, and the latest stop was the Nation’s Capital. LAFC took advantage of the beautiful spring day at Audi Field and showed the rest MLS why they should be considered serious title contenders after pummeling DC United 4-0 to the disappointment of the sellout crowd of 20,600.
The game didn’t start well for the Angelenos as Vela failed to convert a penalty kick in the 12th minute. Carlitos and LAFC, however, were able to recover and started an all-out assault against the home team the last 30 minutes of the half on their way to defeating DC United 4-0.
Despite missing the penalty, Vela was not shaken up by the situation, and only three minutes later, he scored on a nice touch with his left foot right inside the box by beating United goalkeeper Bill Hamid. The goal was just the beginning of the home team’s woes as Diego Rossi scored on a brilliant Vela assist in the 27th minute and Rossi followed up with his second of the game on a fabulous strike that was able to beat Hamid only five minutes later.With a comfortable 3-goal lead, LAFC continued to control the ball in the midfield and gave Ben Olsen’s men very little room to create offensive opportunities and the teams would go to the locker rooms with LAFC on top with a dominant 3-0 score.
DC United came out aggressively in the second half and had several dangerous opportunities to start things out. However, things turned for the worse for the locals in the 49th minute as their captain, Wayne Rooney received a yellow card after a hard challenge on Diego Rossi, but after a review from the VAR, the call was overturned, and Rooney got sent to the showers with a red card. Rooney said following the game that the tackle was not malicious and he initially thought he was going to get a straight red following the play.Rooney’s expulsion killed any momentum that DC United had managed to build, but despite being down one player, DC continued to push forward and created several more opportunities that they were unable to convert.
The final LAFC blow would be dealt in the 76th minute as Diego Rossi scored his third goal of the game to complete a hat-trick and give Bob Bradley’s men the final 4-0 lead.
The Vela-Rossi connection proved to be a lethal one for LAFC against a DC United defense that missed Joseph Mora in the back four as he was not available for the game because of a broken jaw. This game showed a dominant LAFC side and rest assure the rest of the league will not take them lightly, and the scary thought is that the team from LA feels they could get better. After the game Vela was asked about that: “of course, we are trying it’s difficult to keep the level, we have to be ambitious and work hard.”
For now, LAFC continues to be the team the top of the Western Conference and will look to stay undefeated next week when they host Cincinnati FC.
