Inside MLS: Los Angeles Football Club

Inside MLS: Los Angeles Football Club — page 1 — CHAPTER 1 BEST SEASON EVER Fans stood at their seats in Banc of California Stadium A national audience tuned in on TV One year earlier Los Angeles Football Club LAFC had reached the playoffs in its first Major League Soccer MLS season Now the team was looking to do even better The 2019 season wasn’t off to the best start though Sporting Kansas City was in town for the season opener on March 3 The visitors took an early 1 0 lead but Diego Rossi tied it up for LAFC just after halftime And that’s how it stayed Fans watched as the 90th minute expired One minute of stoppage time passed Then another The hotly anticipated 2019 season was looking sure to start with an uninspiring draw Diego Rossi left scored the first goal of the season for LAFC in 2019 4

Inside MLS: Los Angeles Football Club — page 2

Inside MLS: Los Angeles Football Club — page 3 — That’s when the ball arrived at Adama Diomande’s feet The Norwegian forward cut inside Two defenders were still moving the other direction Diomande tapped the ball once Then he squared up and drilled a right-footed shot from just inside the penalty area Sporting KC’s goalkeeper could only flail his body The ball was already past him on the way to the back of the net Diomande’s 94th-minute goal secured a 2 1 win to kick off LAFC’s season And for the second-year club the winning was only just getting started ONWARD WE GO LAFC went on to win again the next weekend Then after a 2 2 draw on the road with New York City Football Club FC Los Angeles won its next four games By June 1 the team was 11 1 4 and building a huge lead in the Western Conference Few were surprised about LAFC’s hot start Its 2018 season was one of the best ever by an MLS expansion team The team had a proven leader in Bob Bradley one of the league’s most respected coaches Carlos Vela meanwhile led a lethal offense In his first MLS season in 2018 he scored 14 goals with 13 assists It soon became clear that the 2019 LAFC team wasn’t just good though It had the potential to be historically good 6

Inside MLS: Los Angeles Football Club — page 4 — Head coach Bob Bradley proved to be the right man for the job in Los Angeles On August 21 LAFC beat the San Jose Earthquakes 4 0 at home That gave the team a record of 19 3 4 good for 61 points The next-best team in the Western Conference was 19 back Even the Eastern Conference leader trailed Los Angeles 7

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