The rivalry between the old-school Galaxy and its upstart neighbor LAFC was as soon as the very best in MLS. The Galaxy traces its roots to the inception of the league whereas LAFC helped outline its fashionable period, organising a turf warfare so good, so aggressive and so emotional, it had its personal nickname.
A lot of that drama had light from El Tráfico in current matches. However that modified Saturday when Maya Yoshida scored on the final contact of the sport to provide the Galaxy a 3-3 draw earlier than a packed home of twenty-two,301 at BMO Stadium.
And the groups didn’t restrict their combat to the scoreboard. A tense shoving match broke out seconds into stoppage time, main referee Guido Gonzalez Jr. to ship off LAFC’s Eddie Segura with a purple card whereas handing two yellow playing cards to the Galaxy and one to LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Galaxy and LAFC gamers get right into a on-field scuffle throughout Saturday’s 3-3 draw at BMO Stadium.
(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Occasions)
Essentially the most devastating punch, nonetheless, got here from Yoshida, who was within the middle of the shoving match. Minutes later his header off a cross from Mauricio Cuevas — his first objective and simply his second shot heading in the right direction of the season — capped a Galaxy comeback from a late 3-1 deficit.
Gabriel Pec had the opposite two targets for the Galaxy whereas Denis Bouanga scored twice for LAFC, whose different objective got here from Javairo Dilrosun.
The draw gave the Galaxy (3-14-7) factors in 5 of their final seven video games, the group’s greatest stretch of the season. LAFC (10-5-6) is unbeaten in 4 straight and has misplaced simply as soon as in 14 league video games since April 5. However the two factors it misplaced on Yoshida’s objective dropped it to fifth within the Western Convention standings.
Bouanga’s fifth objective in six video games gave LAFC the early lead within the twenty sixth minute and, considerably, it was the primary objective in that span that didn’t come from the penalty spot. It additionally gave him a objective in his final six video games in opposition to the Galaxy.
LAFC star Denis Bouanga celebrates after scoring within the first half in opposition to the Galaxy on Saturday.
(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Occasions)
Dilrosun doubled the lead together with his second MLS objective on a counterattack 5 minutes later.
Pec halved the deficit for the Galaxy on a penalty kick lower than 10 minutes earlier than the intermission. That objective, arrange by a Ryan Hollingshead hand ball within the field, snapped a 375-minute scoreless streak for LAFC.
Bouanga prolonged the LAFC lead on one other counterattack arrange by a Galaxy mistake within the 67th minute. Afterward, because the groups walked again to the middle circle, Pec and Galaxy defender Emiro Garces, who was out of place on the breakaway, engaged in a heated argument.
Pec calmed down sufficient to get his fifth objective of the season, on a cross from Marco Reus, to drag his group nearer within the 79th minute. The Galaxy then appeared to tie the rating simply earlier than stoppage time, however Lloris made a spectacular kick save on Christian Ramirez whereas mendacity on his again on the objective line.
That set the stage for Yoshida, nonetheless, with the Galaxy captain slipping in entrance of Nkosi Tafari to redirect a glancing header contained in the far publish, incomes the Galaxy a league consequence at BMO Stadium for the primary time since August 2021, a recreation that additionally led to a 3-3 draw.
