LAFC Extends Home Winning Streak to Nine with 3-1 Win over Houston
September 19, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Los Angeles FC News Release
The Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) extended its home winning streak to nine games with a 3-1 win over the Houston Dynamo in front of a sellout crowd at Banc of California Stadium on Sunday night. Carlos Vela converted a pair of first half penalty kicks before Ryan Hollingshead rounded out the scoring in the 52nd minute.
With the win LAFC is now 20-8-4 on the season for 64 points, leaving the club atop the Western Conference standings and tied with the Philadelphia Union in the race for the Supporters’ Shield, which goes to the team with the best regular season record. Both teams have two games remaining before the regular season comes to a close on Sunday, October 9.
Eleven LAFC players have received call ups by their national teams including six who will be participating in final tune up matches ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup – Max Crepeau (Canada), Sebastian Mendez, Diego Palacios, Jose Cifuentes (Ecuador), Kellyn Acosta (USA) and Gareth Bale (Wales).
CANADA: Maxime Crepeau
ECUADOR: Sebastian Mendez, Diego Palacios, Jose Cifuentes
EL SALVADOR: Tomas Romero
GABON: Denis Bouanga
MEXICO (U20): Christian Torres, Tony Leone, Nathan Ordaz
USA: Kellyn Acosta
WALES: Gareth Bale
LAFC will return to action on Sunday, Oct. 2, making its final regular season road trip to take on the Portland Timbers at Providence Park. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. PT. The match will be broadcast nationally on ABC and ESPN Deportes and locally on radio on the ESPN LA App and 980 AM La Mera Mera.
NEWS & NOTES
Prior to tonight’s game, LAFC clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference as a result of Austin FC’s 1-1 draw with Nashville on Saturday night. This is the second time in LAFC’s five seasons in which they will enter the postseason as the top seed in the West.
Tonight’s win was LAFC’s 20th of the season. They are the first team to register 20 wins this season and this is the second time in LAFC’s five-year history that they have won 20 or more games. In 2019, LAFC set a club record with 21 victories.
The 20 wins for head coach Steve Cherundolo match the most for a first-year head coach in MLS history. He joins Bob Bradley (1998 Chicago Fire) and Thomas Rongen (1996 Tampa Bay Mutiny) in having win 20 games in his first season as an MLS head coach.
With the win, LAFC has now won nine consecutive home games dating back to a 2-1 loss to Austin FC on May 18. On the season, LAFC is 13-1-2 at Banc of California Stadium.
The club has taken 41 of a possible 48 points at home this season.
LAFC’s nine-game home winning streak is tied for the third-longest in MLS history. The Portland Timbers won 10 straight home games over the 2017 and 2018 seasons while the San Jose Earthquakes won a record 12 straight home games during the 2001 and 2002 seasons.
Carlos Vela converted a pair of penalty kicks in the first half, giving him 11 goals on the season. He also has a team-high 12 assists meaning that he has reached double figures and goals and assists for the third time in his five seasons with LAFC.
Vela is one of three players in MLS this season with double figures in both goals and assists. He is joined by Nashville FC’s Hany Mukhtar (23 goals and 11 assists) and Minnesota United’s Emanuel Reynoso (10 goals and 10 assists.)
This was the third time that LAFC has been awarded multiple penalty kicks in the same game and the first time that they have converted both of those penalties. On April 21, 2018, Marco Urena missed a penalty kick while Vela scored one in a 5-3 win at Montreal. On May 19, 2019, Vela had one penalty saved and scored one in a 1-1 draw at FC Dallas.
LAFC took a 1-0 lead in the 8th minute on Vela’s first penalty. The club is now 16-1-0 when scoring first.
Ryan Hollingshead’s 52nd minute goal was his sixth of the season. His six goals are tied for the most by a defender in MLS this season and match his career-high for goals in a season, which he first set with FC Dallas in 2019.
Cristian Arango and Mahala Opoku each played in the game. They are the only two LAFC players to appear in all 32 of the club’s MLS games this season.
Ilie Sanchez played his 175th MLS regular season game this evening. Currently in his first season with LAFC after playing for Sporting Kansas City from 2017-21, Sanchez has appeared in 31 of LAFC’s 32 regular season games this year.
Cristian Tello made his home debut for LAFC. He made his debut for the club on Tuesday night as a second half substitute in the 1-1 draw with Minnesota.
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