LAFC drops Leagues Cup opener in shootout loss

Another chance to win a trophy is so far not off to a good start for LAFC.

Opening its Leagues Cup run against Mazatlan on Tuesday, LAFC was all over the visitors early in the match and eventually saw its efforts bear fruit with a David Martinez goal in the 29th minute. However, Mazatlan quickly responded with a tying goal, the match eventually went to a shootout, and Denis Bouanga’s miss was the difference, as it allowed Mazatlan to steal the opener.

Martinez had LAFC on the front foot from the start. Martinez had his first chance in the 16th minute, as he outraced Salvador Rodriguez to chase down a long ball from Eddie Segura. Martinez headed a ball into the penalty area, then slotted a ball that got past keeper Ricardo Rodriguez, but missed the back post.

Martinez came oh so close in the 23rd minute, as Jeremy Ebobissie, already inside the penalty area, played a short cross to Martinez, who then one-timed a close range shot upward, only to see the shot bounce off the crossbar. Martinez finally saw his efforts pay off in the 28th minute, as he tracked down a long ball from Timothy Tillman, saw keeper Rodriguez off his line and chipped a ball high in the air, but good enough to see the ball go off the inside of the far post and across the goal line to give LAFC the lead.

The lead however only lasted two minutes, as Mazaltan had a response two minutes later. Dudu played his fellow Brazilian countryman Fabio into the penalty area, and an unmarked Fabio fired a shot that beat keeper David Ochoa far post for the equalizer that got Mazatlan back into the match.

The match eventually went to penalties, with both teams missing one penalty inside the first five takers. Eventually both side went through its entire 11 until Mazatlan came through, first by Nicolas Benedetti converting his penalty, then Denis Bouanga skied his penalty wide left to give Mazatlan.