5 reactions from LAFC’s 2-0 win over New England Revolution

LAFC was able to follow their win over Atlanta United with a nice 2-0 victory on the road against the New England Revolution on Saturday. Here’s what stood out to us during the game.

LAFC keeps New England off the board early

Similar to the U.S. Women’s National Team during the World Cup, one of the keys to New England’s turnaround has been scoring early in games.

According to Matt Doyle of mlssoccer.com, since Bruce Arena took over the Revs have had eight games. In seven of those games they scored first, and in four they scored in the first 10 minutes.

Scoring first allows you to dictate the pace of a game, and it forces the opponent to react to what you want. By weathering the storm and keeping New England off the board early, LAFC were allowed to play the game on their terms and it paid off early on.

Goal of the week?

Wow, what a chip by Diego Rossi.

Rossi opened the scoring in truly stunning fashion. Coming off a subpar performance against the LA Galaxy, Diego Rossi has now scored in his last two games.

Teams are always going to target Carlos Vela, and the striker play for LAFC is generally good, but can be inconsistent. If the team is to reach its absolute peak it needs Rossi to perform well.

In the last 2 games, he’s done just that.

The Revolution were wasteful with their chances

It’s clear Arena has had a profound turnaround with the Revolution.

Along with the San Jose Earthquakes they have been the two hottest teams in the league lately, and it was evident why on Saturday.

New England’s dangerous players, particularly Carles Gil, Gustavo Bou, and Teal Bunbury did find themselves in good positions and generated decent chances.

But the Revs didn’t even put many of their shots on frame, especially in the first half, frequently skying them and sending them well into the stands.

Some of this is credit to LAFC players closing down the shooters well, but New England certainly could have done better when it comes to the shooting department.

Tiki Taka football

LAFC have frequently mentioned that Bob Bradley shows a lot of tape of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona teams, as the team to emulate in terms of their style of play and success at winning trophies.

There was certainly an element of Barcelona’s tiki taka possession in LAFC’s second goal.

A lovely interchange between Carlos Vela, Eduard Atuesta, and Steven Beitashour split the heart of the New England Revolution’s defense, before playing it out to Jordan Harvey, who hit a perfect low cross to Latif Blessing, who patiently eluded a defender in the box before slotting home the second goal. It was a thing of beauty.

Keeping pace at the top

LAFC have made no secret in their desire for trophies this year, and the next trophy they have their eye on is the Supporters’ Shield.

LAFC’s win put them at 52 points, 13 points ahead of Atlanta United in the east, and 14 points ahead of the San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders in the West.

It’s a nice lead, but you can be sure Bradley will keep the team focused and hungry for each game as the season enters its latter stages.

What do you think? Leave a comment below!