LAFC dominates Miami in front of record crowd

For its season opener against a premier foe, LAFC and MLS decided to go big.

With a match featuring the likes of Lionel Messi and Son-Heung Min, LAFC opted not to play this MLS season-opening match featuring two teams favored to win the MLS Cup at the 22,000 BMO Stadium. Instead, they decided to play the match next door at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The city delivered, as combination of Lionel Messi fans and LA’s massive Korean community who turned out for Son combined to draw a capacity crowd of 75,673 to the legendary stadium. Also delivering was LAFC themselves, as they rode goals by David Martinez, Denis Bouanga and Nathan Ordaz to the 3-0 win.

“It’s a new year, a beautiful year,” Martinez said. “I think I’m going to take advantage of every opportunity that I get, you know, lay it all out there on the field and give the club the best I can.”

LAFC were the aggressors from the start. LAFC had a chance six minutes in, as Bouanga spring Son, who kept himself onside, for goal, Son dribbled inside the penalty area, dribbled past St. Clair, but the combination of St. Clair forcing him too far from goal and Miami defender Micael being able to track back and recover forced Son to look for other options, though he found one, as he passed to a trailing Bouanga, who then one-timed a shot on goal, but St. Clair came up with the save.

LAFC first struck in the 38th minute. Timothy Tillman forced a Miami turnover at midfield, the ball went to Stephen Eustáquio, who threaded a pass to Son, who took a few touches before he played Martinez into the penalty area and Martinez slotted a left-footed shot past keeper Dayne St. Clair far post to get LAFC on the board. Martinez just missed out on a brace by a mere inches in the second half, and it unfolded in almost the same sequence, as it was Bouanga that played Martinez into the box, and Martinez took the exact same left-footed shot, the ball got past St. Clair, but just missed the far post.

“First half, there were more similarities of what I wanted our team to be about,” LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos said. “We had a little bit more spells with the ball and guys in the right pocket.”

Nevertheless, LAFC took control in the second half. Bouanga got on the scoresheet in the 73rd minute, as Timothy sent a long ball forward, Bouanga beat Facundo Mura to the ball, and headed a ball over St. Clair, who was way off his line, leaving an open net which Bouanga capitalized on, as he slotted the ball into the open net to double the LAFC lead. Ordaz put the icing on the cake in stoppage time, as Bouanga danced past Mura into the penalty area, passed into the six-yard box and Ordaz came in and slotted a shot past St. Clair into the back net.