One goal. Then another. Then another.
Four straight matches, one goal each time. LAFC aren’t sinking, but they’re stuck in the mud, and it’s starting to show.
A month ago it was the other way around. Ten goals in three MLS games in July, a side on the move, three wins and a draw since the league restarted. Then the Leagues Cup came along and the tap was turned off. Three wins in that competition, two of them on penalties. Not enough to reach the quarter-finals.
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Five players started all three Leagues Cup games
The schedule has taken its toll. On Wednesday against Queretaro, Marc Dos Santos made five changes to his starting XI before scraping through on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Across the three Leagues Cup matches, only five players started every one. Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-Min were among them.
“It’s been tough to keep pushing the players across every competition and now we have to be ready to face San Diego on Saturday,” said the head coach. “That’s the only thing that worries me.”
The injury list isn’t helping. Igor Jesus and Sergi Palencia remain out, both with leg problems. LAFC did sign German forward Armindo Sieb from Bayern Munich on Thursday, though his international clearance and visa have yet to come through. He won’t play this weekend.
From conference winners to 13th in a year
San Diego arrive with 21 points, sitting 13th. Quite a fall for a club that won the Western Conference in its inaugural season last year.
The Southern California side have won their last two Leagues Cup fixtures, though. On Wednesday they beat Puebla 3-2 at home through David Vazquez and Dagur Thorhallsson, who scored four minutes apart late on. Two recent signings doing the damage.
“We’ve been through some tough spells, but we’re slowly building back,” Vazquez told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “When I arrived in July, everyone was excited, but I think we got a little too comfortable.”
This is the first of two away trips before a run of four home games in five. The calendar is handing them something. Whether they take it is another question.
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