TAKEAWAYS | That Was Scary
But LAFC is through to the CCL quarterfinals despite a 2-1 loss at home.
It’s going to take a bit of time to wash the bad taste out of our mouths.
Portland had us worried after being up 3-0. But then the result in Alajuela was comprehensive. Followed by LAFC dismantling the Revs on short rest. Maybe we were spoiled? A little too high on our own supply?
Whatever the case, credit to Alajuelense. Because they definitely burst LAFC’s bubble a bit.
However, the competition is two legs. LAFC dominated on the road and did just enough at home. Do that for another two rounds and you’re in the final.
I think this tweet and the accompanying GIF say it all.
Here are the Takeaways from a Concacaf Champions League night to forget as LAFC go through on aggregate 4-2:
Self-Inflicted
I suppose after every match, you can debate tactics. But that doesn’t seem worthwhile here. Because simply put, LAFC was its own worst enemy in this match.
Take your pick here. An early penalty, poor finishing, getting countered on your own corner kick, none of it looks good. And yet, not much indicative of the way the other team played.
After Alajuelense scored the opener, I thought they had a surge where they went man-to-man and pressed right up against LAFC's back four. It caused maybe a split second of worry and chaos. But once LAFC’s midfield and forwards provided options to outnumber Alajuelense’s two-man midfield, it was wave of attack after attack from the Black & Gold once again.
Last season, LAFC rarely beat itself. They almost rediscovered that bad habit at the very worst time.
MOTM
It wasn’t all bad finishing though. LD Alajeunese goalkeeper Leonel Moreira stood on his head tonight.
I can think of at least two saves that Moreira must have slowed time Matrix-style to make. He finished the night with seven saves.
It literally took Carlos Vela challenging him to a game of chicken inside the six-yard box for Moreira to be beaten - luckily the LAFC captain held his nerve before scooping a shot into the top corner.
John McCarthy was no slouch either with five saves. He probably could have parried the shot that led to the second goal into a safer area. But he made an important diving save in stoppage time to settle LAFC.
A Different Set Up
People will ask, so let’s talk about it.
Up by three goals, why not park the bus? Or why not once Alajuelense scored the first goal… or maybe the second?
It’s probably a fair question to ask. But there’s a lot of evidence to point out why it was the right call to keep going for it.
I’m sure Steve Cherdunolo could say it better but here are my thoughts.
The opening goal definitely heightened the drama in the match but it wasn’t the time to get overly emotional. Let’s not forget that seven seconds into the match, LAFC could have been up 1-0 and the tie likely over. Not to mention, the Black & Gold went on to create chance after chance after the goal and hold a 9-1 shot advantage at halftime. Also, refer to Takeaway No. 1.
Clearly, the best path forward for LAFC was finding a goal. Don’t forget how Alajuelense’s heads went down after giving up the second goal in their house and how it led to a third. And lack of finishing/great goalkeeping isn’t a reason to stop attacking when you’re creating so many chances and not actually giving up many on the other end. The odds are on your side!
Because in hindsight, it’s easy to think a more defensive approach would have killed off the game from the start and we could have all been thrilled by a dour 0-0 or 1-0 loss. But then again, think how’d upset you’d be if LAFC betrayed its identity, at home no less, and it didn’t work out?
Continuing to take the game to Alajuelense was the right call. But you have to respect that weird things happen in this sport and especially in this competition - it’s called getting “Concacaf’d” for a reason.
Like I said to start, this will leave a bad taste. But we’ll get over it by the time we kick off in the quarterfinals in April.
We’re headed to Seattle this weekend for our away match. Hoping our guys shake this off and push forward 👊🏽
I wasn’t so annoyed at the decision to attack as much as allowing the game to played at a frenetic pace. I attribute some of that to not having Acosta in the mid field. Him and Ilie combine to calm down the game when needed.
Disaster averted I can say I was still impressed by the players. Biuk is everything he was advertised to be. Finishing is not as easy as fans believe. Hopefully he’s looking at the little things Vela does on that goal, pull the keeper over, flick the ball up over the keepers leg and learning from it. I’ll give him some time before I fret about his finishing.
How about that outside of the foot cross from Cifu? Feel like he’s been much more calm on the ball this season. It’s been amazing to see him grow at LAFC.