LAFC Lose in Their Preseason Debut
Los Angeles Football Club embarks on their journey to defend their 2022 MLS Championship. Taking place at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, LAFC begins their tune-up for the 2023 MLS Season. The current champions will only play two matches in this mini tournament, taking on D.C United and Toronto FC. In their first “official” match they would debut with a loss to D.C United in a last-minute heartbreak. The champs would lineup with; Jakupovic, Palacios, Long, Murillo, Hollingshead, Sanchez, Acosta, Cifuentes, Bouanga, Vela, and Biuk. LAFC would have a solid first half but were not able to complete their chances and were forced to go to the break tied at 0.
In the second half LAFC would score the game’s first goal. As Denis Bouanga would sneak around Tyler Miller and give the Black and Gold a 1-0 lead. However, D.C would tie the game in the 68th minute. LAFC would fall flat in the second half as they made a couple of substitutions to rotate their team. It would go on to stay tied until the final minutes of the match. As Christian Benteke scored the game winner for D.C. With this LAFC would lose in their debut in the Coachella Valley Invitational, however there is not much to worry as the team still has time to fix any issues. According to a few outlets on social media, LAFC newly acquired striker Stipe Biuk made a great impression on his debut. It also seems like the 2022 MLS CUP MVP will have some competition with Jakupovic. As Jakupovic had a great start and could be considered the second keeper for LAFC.
Room To Improve
The goal with preseason is to figure out what the team can improve on and where. Currently there are reports stating that LAFC are interested in bringing in premier striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Chelsea FC. After Chicho’s departure to Pachuca this would sound like a reasonable thing to do. However, LAFC are looking for more than just a big-time name. As they prefer a number 9 who is flexible and can play all over the field. However, they are also in need of goals. LAFC has top tier talent like Bouanga and Vela, but can they put up numbers like Chicho did? It’ll be difficult to replace Chicho’s production and that’s why LAFC are currently looking a new number 9. Whatever LAFC does it has to be done quickly as the season kicks off February 25th, against their rivals LA Galaxy.
