LAFC concedes late equalizer in El Tráfico draw with Galaxy
LOS ANGELES — So much for solidarity.
On a night when the city convened its 26th El Tráfico – a rivalry built on the intense nature between L.A. Galaxy and Los Angeles Football Club supporters – pre-match festivities revolved more about what brings Angelenos together than tears them apart.
Then they played the game.
Following another classic on the long list of frantic affairs between the Major League Soccer powers, a stoppage-time goal by the visiting captain, center back Maya Yoshida, culminated in a 3-3 draw that won’t soon be forgotten.
The Galaxy rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 down, splitting the points at BMO Stadium by ending a three-match shutout streak for the hosts.
LAFC leaned on Denis Bouanga, who scored twice to go with a goal from Javairô Dilrosun, offsetting Yoshida’s improbable equalizer that was made possible after a pair of finishes by Galaxy forward Gabriel Pec.
A choppy, rhythmless start to the game faded away in the 26th minute when LAFC finally took a shot on goal.
With the ball at his feet at midfield, fullback Ryan Hollingshead dribbled past Miki Yamane before finding Bouanga sprinting toward the Galaxy box. Delivered with the perfect weight, Hollingshead’s second assist of the regular season put the French winger exactly where he needed to be to curl his 12th goal inside the far post.
Bouanga, LAFC’s most important player for three seasons running, tied Zlatan Ibrahimovic with nine El Tráfico goals, three behind Carlos Vela for the series lead. The 30-year-old also established a new record for goals in consecutive derby matches, surpassing Vela with his sixth in a row.
Shortly after the half-hour mark, LAFC increased the advantage with a similar sequence. This time, midfielder Mark Delgado won the ball in the middle of the park and pushed it forward to Nathan Ordaz.
Ordaz sprinted down the left and picked out Dilrosun charging unmarked to the opposite end of the box. The Dutch forward controlled the cross with one small touch and coolly finished at the far post for his second goal since arriving in June on a loan from Club América.
The Galaxy caught a break in the 34th minute when a handball in the box on Hollingshead gave Gabriel Pec a chance to cash in a penalty kick for the first of his two goals on the night.
The two sides pushed and pulled for the next hour, with LAFC limiting room through the middle and the Galaxy surviving dangerous opportunities in their own end.
Bouanga’s brace came to pass in the 67th minute with a brilliant individual effort that started inside LAFC’s half.
Pec scored his second in the 79th minute thanks to an assist by Marco Rues, and from that point forward, the Galaxy (3-14-7, 16 points) ramped up the pressure they always seem to exert against LAFC (10-5-6, 36 points).
That closing stretch appeared to get thwarted by LAFC goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris in the 88th minute, when the French legend denied Christian Ramirez and kicked the ball away as he laid on the grass.
On the last play during five minutes of stoppage time, which saw LAFC defender Eddie Segura sent off with a red card for an altercation on the field, Yoshida managed to get prime position inside LAFC’s six-yard box, where Mauricio Cuevas’s lofted ball glanced off the Japanese defender’s header inside the far post.