LAFC: Danny Musovski leads the way in a crucial victory

LAFC’s Danny Musovski was a difference-maker in the 3-1 victory over the Seattle Sounders.

The October international break hit Los Angeles FC hard as they lost a total of four players to the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers. As a result, the club has had to turn to its depth players to help the lead way in the upcoming Major League Soccer fixtures.

On Sunday, they were missing their prolific goal scorer Diego Rossi as they faced the Western Conference leaders Seattle Sounders. This posed the question of where would the goals come from? Bradley Wright-Phillips was available and in the starting XI but it was going to a tough ask of him to be the lone threat for LAFC.

There was no Brian Rodriguez as well, which made LAFC’s chances of taking all three points at home looked slim. Without their usual starters available Bob Bradley turned to Danny Musovski and Adrien Perez to take the roles on the wings. At left-back, veteran Jordan Harvey stepped in for Diego Palacios.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way

The match got off to a difficult start as Mark-Anthony Kaye had to come out just six minutes into the fixture. His replacement Andy Najar then came off seven minutes later in the 13th minute due to injury as well. This was the worse possible start for LAFC as they already entered the match thin on depth.

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Despite the rough start, LAFC pulled together and delivered a memorable victory at home. Musvoski made the most of his appearance in the starting XI and went on to score two goals in the victory.

He was one of the top players of the afternoon for LAFC as he continues to show improvement as the 2020 season progresses.

There were contributions all over the pitch as midfielder Francisco Ginella scored his first goal in style. Elsewhere, Harvey made a key goal-line clearance in the second half that kept the LAFC advantage at 1-0.

Had he not made that block the match could have gone in a different direction with the Sounders potentially tying things up in the 57th minute.

Overall, this performance from LAFC displayed a fighting spirit from the club that has not been seen in prior matches this season. It is a positive moment for them, especially without their usual starters in the lineup. This has to be encouraging moving forward with two more fixtures awaiting them in the coming week.

Musovski proving to be an effective player for LAFC

Musovski’s first full season in MLS has gone quite well. The former San Jose Earthquakes draft pick has now scored four goals in 11 appearances during the current campaign. Having spent the last two seasons playing in the USL, Musovski had joined LAFC following an 11 goal season for Reno 1868 in 2019. He certainly has brought the goal-scoring touch he found in USL with him to MLS. The 24-year-old is proving to be a key player whether he is in the starting XI or entering as a substitute in the second half.

Playoff push continues for LAFC

LAFC’s victory was very crucial in the race for the playoffs in the Western Conference. Their win over the Sounders moves them to within six points of their opponents who remain top of the table entering the coming week. Looking further down the table, LAFC has opened up a gap of five points back to ninth place Houston Dynamo who are the first club outside of the playoffs at the moment.

There are still seven matches left on LAFC’s regular-season schedule and first place in the west is not completely out of reach. Despite the up and down campaign so far, if they can rally in the coming weeks then they might just be able to pull off a shocking move to finish top of the table.