LAFC struck early and often to secure a 2-0 victory over Minnesota United on Wednesday, clinching its second home victory with two goals from first-time scorers Mark-Anthony Kaye and Eduard Atuesta. The win kept the team undefeated in its home stadium of Banc of California after three consecutive home games.
Atuesta opened scoring in the 31st minute, collecting a slick service into the box, turning and immediately firing the ball into the side netting. The stadium erupted for the 21-year-old, who scored the first professional goal of his career in his second start in the black and gold. Only minutes later, Kaye followed Atuesta’s lead, collecting a deflected cross from Carlos Vela and slamming it into the net. The two goals put two more LAFC players on the boards for the season, reflecting the team’s mentality of spreading the ball to allow all players to succeed.
“We play together,” Vela said. “We play the same way. We want to involve everyone to play fun football. We have a really dynamic team and… we’re going a good way.”
Wednesday night also saw another strong showing from Tyler Miller, who recorded his fourth shutout of the season despite an onslaught from Minnesota United in the second half. Miguel Ibarra challenged the keeper, forcing him to come off his line at the end of the first half, but defender Walker Zimmerman and the rest of the backline held down the line for Miller to keep the score clean for LAFC.
The victory also secured the team’s current standing at the No. 2 slot of the Western conference, trailing only four points behind Sporting KC and a whole six points ahead of Vancouver, the closest competitor at No. 3 in the division. This early success has become a status quo for expansion teams, as Atlanta United holds the No. 1 position in the Eastern conference in its sophomore season of the MLS.
Still, for a fledgling team in its inaugural season, the ability to string together wins both at home and on the road has been exciting — and somewhat surprising — given the fact that LAFC didn’t even have a full roster until weeks before the MLS season began. As it continues to grow, head coach Bob Bradley feels that the team will continue to be self aware of how far it has come.
“We have a very good group of players,” head coach Bob Bradley said. “We were very clear at the beginning that we wanted to play exciting football and to be a good team and that’s gonna take a lot of work. We’re not there yet, but … I think tonight we saw some really great moments of football.”
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