LOS ANGELES — Hopes for a big push from the Los Angeles Football Club heading into the Leagues Cup were dashed on Friday night.
For the second time in a month, LAFC dropped three points at BMO Stadium, suffering a 1-0 defeat to a conference rival.
Angling to put daylight between themselves and the Portland Timbers, the Black & Gold fell short and instead suffered their second loss of a six-game stretch coming out of the FIFA Club World Cup.
LAFC (10-6-6, 36 points) is 3-2-1 since June 29, when it lost to Vancouver at home, and sits is sixth place in the Western Conference, a point behind the Timbers (10-7-7, 37 points) and 10 back of first-place San Diego.
Capitalizing on a corner kick after a diving save by Hugo Lloris from David Ayala’s left foot, Portland midfielder Cristhian Paredes slid into the middle of LAFC’s box and drilled a header that caromed off the far post for the Paraguayan’s first goal of the season and the eventual game-winner.
For the second consecutive half, LAFC conceded a set piece goal on the final play.
Last weekend, that meant sharing points with the Galaxy instead of winning another heated El Trafico.
Less than a week later, LAFC at least had a chance to atone for its mistake.
With Eddie Segura serving a one-match ban due to a red card against the Galaxy, and workhorse fullback Sergi Palencia back home in Spain as part of the process to receive his green card, a makeshift defensive unit included Ryan Hollingshead, Artem Smoliakov, Nkosi Tafari and MLS debutant Kenny Nielsen.
A 5-foot-10 center back from Irvine who was drafted with the 57th overall pick out of Georgetown in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, Nielsen signed with the first team in March from LAFC2, where he started 11 games this year.
Mobile and calm on the ball, Nielsen, 23, fit in well and played through the final whistle.
Though the concern coming in was the backline, the offense struggled to create moments, failing to put a shot on target in the first 45 minutes.
Two nights after starting and recording an assist in the MLS All-Star game in Austin, Texas, star forward Denis Bouanga had one of his quietest games of the year. The MLS leader in total shots played 90 minutes and was unable to put a shot on target.
On the few occasions when LAFC put a shot on frame, Maxime Crepeau, who famously broke his leg playing for the Black & Gold in the club’s triumphant 2022 MLS Cup title match, was up to the task.
In the 56th minute, Crepeau shut down LAFC’s best moment during the run of play when Smoliakov broke free down the left to deliver a hard pass across the face of goal. Nathan Ordaz struck it first time at point blank range, but Crepeau laid out to deny the equalizer.
Twenty two minutes later, Nielsen nearly stole the show inside the Timber’s box when he lined up a bicycle kick that glanced off a defender’s face before Crepeau reached high to redirect it off the crossbar.
At the other end, Lloris, who assumed LAFC’s goalkeeping spot after Crepeau and John McCarthy departed following the 2023 season, kept his side in the game until the final whistle with a pair of diving saves in the second half.
More to come on this story.
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