LAFC: 3 takeaways from 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake
By Daniel Garza
Three takeaways from LAFC’s 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake.
After a brief break in Major League Soccer action, Los Angeles FC was back on the pitch on Saturday night to host Real Salt Lake. It was the first home fixture for LAFC since June 23rd and the home side did not disappoint their supporters as they went on to win 2-1. An early goal from Diego Rossi was answered by RSL’s Aaron Herrera to make it 1-1 at halftime but a top-class strike from Carlos Vela in the second half proved to be the difference. Here are three takeaways from LAFC’s 2-1 victory on Saturday night.
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Opportunities not in short supply
LAFC finished the match with an expected 5.7 goals. Granted, they did not score five goals or more but there were plenty of opportunities for the home side to register multiple goals. Vela alone hit the woodwork twice and missed a penalty kick. In total, LAFC recorded 29 shots and it certainly could have been a much comfortable victory had they been able to convert these opportunities. In the end, they got the job done with another victory added to their season total and it was one of the more dominant second-half displays so far this season.
Jose Cifuentes creating chances
It was another strong showing from Cifuentes. The LAFC midfielder registered his second assist of the season and has now been directly involved in scoring or assisting at least one goal in his last four appearances. Another impressive statistic from this match for Cifuentes was he recorded a season-high five key passes in the victory. Cifuentes certainly has been instrumental during LAFC’s current three-match winning streak.
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Vela and Rossi lead the way
For the first time this season, both Vela and Rossi scored in the same match. These two players are among the best in MLS when it comes to scoring goals and when they are both on target in the same match LAFC is usually victorious. They both performed exceptionally on Saturday night and hopefully, they can begin to score goals at a consistent rate for the remainder of the campaign. So far, the duo has not had the goal-scoring start they’ve displayed in previous seasons but there’s still a long way to go in the 2021 season and they both are capable of reaching double-digit numbers.