LOS ANGELES, CA –Thursday night, LAFC defeated San Jose 3-1 to advance to the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup, earning a date with the Portland Timbers on July 10. Both teams came out on the attack with the Earthquakes took the early advantage before LAFC rallied for the win.
The early strike from San Jose came off an attack in the 7th minute, as Christian Espinoza assisted Valeri Cazaishvll put it into the back of the net past a diving Pablo Sisniega.
For a moment, LAFC lost confidence but eventually found their rhythm as the game went on. In the 35th minute, Diego Rossi notched the equalizer for LAFC as he chipped it just past the reach of Earthquakes keeper Andrew Tarbell. This kicked up the attack on both sides as they battle up and down the field. Eventually, LAFC started to play smarter, keeping the ball tight within the middle of the field, not allowing their opponent access to possession.
At the half, despite the pressure from LAFC, they had just one shot on target, compared to 4 on goal for San Jose. In the 2nd half, LAFC continued to put pressure on the Earthquakes and their keeper Andrew Tarbell making his life ever so difficult with three shots on target in just the first 10 minutes.
LAFC kept the pressure on and in the 60th minute Adama Diomande had the ball out front off a great lead pass from Diego Rossi. As Tarbell came off his line attacking, Diomande put a little touch to the side and then punched it in to put LAFC on top 2-1. After this, Diomande subbed out with Christian Ramirez, in a move that was written on the score sheet ahead of the goal.
The pressure began to overwhelm the Earthquakes where they couldn’t get any shots to find the back of the net, even though they came close, giving Sisniega a busy night where he had eight saves in the match. However, the attack didn’t stop for LAFC, and in the 85th-minute third goal was scored for LAFC, this time coming from Carlos Vela, to seal the deal. At the end of the game, Vela had this to say about the team, “We’re a good team, we need to show that every game, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing.”
The Earthquakes put the pressure on with a few chances late, but it was to no avail, as they weren’t able to add to their score total. LAFC heads to the US Open Cup quarterfinals for the second straight year in as many years in the league. They will look to get back to the semi-finals and finish what they started a year ago, looking to put their first piece of silverware in their trophy case.
Written by Shanae Austin
