Los Angeles Football Club goes top of the Western Conference Table after a last-minute win against San Jose Earthquakes, 2-1.
Stipe Biuk’s early goal and Carlos Vela’s last-minute penalty sent LAFC top of the table with two games in hand.
Just three minutes into the first half Biuk opened the scoreboard and remained dominant for the opening 20 minutes. But slowly, San Jose started to cause problems with Paul Marie’s long shot being denied by John McCarthy.
In the second half, San Jose continued to look for their first goal with Cristian Espinoza’s shot, yet McCarthy continued to save LAFC. Until Miguel Trauco’s strange shot confused McCarthy, and the ball went in.
LAFC remained confident in the last moments of the second half. However, Biuk missed a chance, and Jose Cifuentes, who tried to pass instead of shooting, was unable to get the win.
The game was going to turn out into a draw. But San Jose defender Tanner Beason cost his team the game by putting his hand inside the box. Vela then stepped up to the spot in the 95th minute and converted a left-footed shot for LAFC, putting it into the bottom right corner for his fourth goal of the season.
LAFC Goes Top of the Table
LAFC now goes top of the Western Conference after the Seattle Sounders and St. Louis dropped points. The Sounders lost four in the last seven games. Meanwhile, before beating Sporting Kansas City 4-0, St. Louis lost to the Chicago Fire and Portland Timbers.
This gives LAFC an advantage and extends the gap if the Black and Gold win their two games in hand against LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo.
But for now, LAFC plays against LA Galaxy tomorrow for the U.S. Open Cup. Then LAFC has a CONCACAF Champions League final against the Mexican side Leon before facing Dynamo.
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