LA Galaxy and LAFC treated fans to another classic El Trafico installment at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday afternoon, hyped for its long-anticipated matchup between Javier "Chicarito" Hernandez and Carlos Vela. The Galaxy triumphed 2-1 in a match that came down to eight action-packed minutes of stoppage time.
Chicharito put the Galaxy up within the first 15 minutes, as Samuel Grandsir played in a pinpoint cross that evaded an on-charging Maxime Crepeau en route to the striker's head for the opener. Then, after Vela hit the post on one attempt and was called offside on an apparent equalizer, Grandsir got his second assist of the match, again going left-to-right on a pass that Sega Coulibaly poked in at the far post.
LAFC finally got its first goal in the 79th minute; Vela couldn't convert on an attempt set up by a long throw-in, but Cristian Arango put back the rebound to halve the lead. Then, after the Galaxy weathered barrage after barrage from the visitors, Latif Blessing scored what appeared to be the equalizing goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time, but Video Review negated the goal to allow the Galaxy fans to once again commence normal breathing.
Goals
Next Up
- LA: Saturday, April 16 at Chicago Fire FC | 7:30 pm ET (MLS LIVE on ESPN+)
