For Los Angeles FC, ‘El Trafico’ draw is a building block
Los Angeles FC, LA Galaxy produce another classic
The buzz from a full slate of MLS matches over the weekend was another intense – and at moments insane – installment of ‘El Tráfico.’ The six goal match, evenly split between the LA Galaxy and Los Angeles FC, was another class moment from what might be the best rivalry in all of MLS.
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And for Los Angeles FC, the 3-3 result, a bit of a disappointment at home, still produced something for the club to build on. Given their struggles this season, earning a point against a top four team in the Western Conference is perhaps the little bit of momentum this team needs to make a playoff push.
“So many of these matches, look, we have had too many tough moments. Man, I’m not going back through them all, but moments where we played well and moments where we managed to let something go that was certainly the very first one in history,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said after the match.
“There was the lockdown special; there was the night where we had the back pass late in the game and they scored. So still, it’s on us sometimes because I think in many of these games, in terms of pushing things, creating chances, I think we’ve been pretty good. Physically we have had games against them where we haven’t competed on completely even terms physically; that they had a really hard edge and it threw us off. I thought on that end tonight, we did really well.
“And you know, when I say physically and pushing things, it’s not just going in on 50/50 balls. It’s making sure your attackers are ready to try to go by defenders and really threaten them.”
Los Angeles FC currently sits in eleventh place in the Western Conference on 24 points with a 6-9-6 record. They are just three points off the Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake for a playoff spot.