LAFC 2:0 New York Red Bulls
LAFC beat New York Red Bulls 2:0 in the MLS Regular Season, round 24 at BMO Stadium on Thursday night. Jude Terry opened the scoring in the twenty-first minute before Armindo Sieb added a late winner as the match ran out. The hosts sit third in the table with 40 points after 25 games, while the visitors drop further down with just 27 points from 24 outings.
And here's the thing — LAFC did not dominate possession but they took their chances. They finished with 43 per cent of the ball and eight shots on target, while New York had 57 per cent and only one on target. The difference came in the final third, where LAFC created one big chance and registered 1.46 in expected goals against their opponents' 0.43.
Terry's goal arrived shortly after Dylan Nealis had picked up a yellow card for the visitors in the eighteenth minute. The hosts then saw Kenny Nielsen cautioned in the forty-second before Julian Bazan went off the yellow board in the fifty-second. Ryan Raposo would add another booking for New York late on, in the eighty-seventh minute.
By then the game was largely settled, though New York threw three substitutions on in the fifty-sixth minute — Cade Cowell, Mohammed Sofo and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting all came on together. LAFC responded in the sixty-first with changes of their own, bringing off Jude Terry and Jacob Shaffelburg. Denis Bouanga arrived for the hosts in the ninetieth minute, and Armindo Sieb had already scored in stoppage time.
The statistics tell you where the match was won. LAFC made 478 passes with 412 successful, while New York completed 581 of 641. But the visitors managed only two successful crosses compared to LAFC's two, and their shots accuracy was a fraction — thirteen per cent against fifty-three per cent for the hosts. That price has gone now for anyone who bet on the visitors.
We had backed LAFC to win at 56 per cent confidence, and the result delivered on that call. They were second to everything in possession, but they were first where it counted. The three points move them closer to the top half and leave New York still searching for consistency in this campaign.