The 12th edition of the rivalry match between LA Galaxy and LAFC, culminated in a stalemate in front of a sold-out crowd of 22,000 at the Banc of California Stadium. But to call it stale would belie the underlying dramatic cacophony of goals and goal attempts that resulted in the 3-3 final score.
By the end of the first half, there were 16 attempts at scoring (12 for LAFC, 4 for LA Galaxy). The first half concluded with a 1-1 draw, and perhaps fooled us all into believing it would be an uneventful match, lacking the prowess of the Galaxy’s star, Chicharito and LAFC’s left-footed goal bandit, Carlos Vela, but it was one of the most entertaining El Tráficos since the Zlatan era.
LAFC began the match struggling for a win, having garnered just 23 points, with 6 wins, five draws and 9 losses. Whereas LA Galaxy came to the match in fourth place in the Western Conference with 35 points (11 wins, 2 draws and 8 losses).
LAFC were just moments from ending their six-game winless run, after a hard-fought brace from Brian Rodriguez and a first-half penalty kick by Cristian Arango, but a late goal from Kevin Cabral dashed their hopes for taking away all 3 points.
Galaxy’s newly signed Serbian international forward Dejan Joveljic also tallied a brace of his own for his team.
The second half was dazzling, as the clubs netted three goals in an eight-minute span. Rodriguez notched a go-ahead goal for LAFC just before the 60-minute mark after outrunning Galaxy defenders.
But Joveljic equalized just five minutes afterwards, with a strike to the far post. The resulting 2-2 draw was short, as Rodriguez found his 2nd goal three minutes later with a rebound finish. However, the home team couldn’t hold the 3-2 lead, as Cabral pounced on an Araujo cross.
While LA Galaxy stay at a competitive 4th place in the Western Conference standings, LAFC continue their mediocre season and plummet to 11th place. Will things look up for the Black & Gold this year?
