On Monday night, a spirited comeback by LAFC helped them earn a point against the Houston Dynamo in a pulsating 3-3 draw. Here are three things we learned.
It was yet another goal-filled thriller for Los Angeles FC. Their last match, a 3-3 draw against the Philadelphia Union, and their opening match of their MLS is Back Tournament journey were both rip-roaring affairs. On this occasion, their opponents were the Houston Dynamo, who unafraid of the reigning Supporters’ Shield winners and took a commanding 3-1 lead at half-time.
The match had five different goal scorers, including a Memo Rodriguez brace for the Dynamo with Alberth Elis adding the third. For LAFC, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Diego Rossi, and Brian Rodriguez scored as they fought back in the second half.
Here are three things we learned from the 3-3 draw.
3. Memo Rodriguez shines for Dynamo
A brace from Houston Dynamo homegrown midfielder Memo Rodriguez was not a likely outcome. The 24-year-old picked up just his second two-goal match of his Major League Soccer career. He has never been prolific, but this was a natural goalscorer’s performance.
His first goal was a lovely strike, collecting the ball on the edge of the area, beating a defender with a dummy to cut inside, before then unleashing a quickfire low shot into the near post. He then doubled his tally by gambling on a low cross and bundling the ball into the goal, showing good anticipation and desire to get into goalscoring opportunities.
After a strong performance of seven goals and five assists during the 2019 season, Rodriguez appears to be back in good form this time around. There could very well be more goals to come from this player during the course of this tournament.