The Los Angeles Football Club fell 2-0 to FC Dallas Saturday night on a humid evening at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The loss was LAFC’s seventh in its last 10 games across all competitions, and it dropped the defending MLS Cup champions into second place in the Western Conference standings, three points behind leaders St. Louis CITY FC.
Temperatures in north Texas hovered near 90 degrees throughout the match, an unwelcome environment for an LAFC team that was playing its 29th game across all competitions since the beginning of the MLS season. No team in league history has played that many matches between the start of a season and July 1. (The next-closest team, the 2022 Seattle Sounders, played 25.)
Despite the rigors of their calendar, the Black & Gold looked fresh early on against Dallas, controlling the ball and the tempo during the first half and creating scoring chances that nonetheless went unfinished. Attacking midfielder Mateusz Bogusz drove a hard free kick into the area from the left wing that was saved by sprawling Dallas keeper Maarten Paes in the 25th minute. Three minutes later, an arcing cross from Stipe Biuk bounced toward his unmarked teammate Dènis Bouanga in the area, but LAFC’s top goal scorer this season failed to connect on it.
The stalemate was broken in the 56th minute when a long throw-in from FC Dallas’ Geovane Jesus sailed toward the LAFC goal and caromed into the path of Dallas forward Bernard Kamungo, who toe-poked it past onrushing LAFC goalie John McCarthy. “Unfortunately that was enough to beat us tonight,” said LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo.
LAFC midfielder and Dallas native Kellyn Acosta called Kamungo’s goal “a punch in the mouth for us and we were unable to bounce back.”
The visitors had their opportunities. In in the 64th minute, a left-footed blast from Bouanga near Dallas’ six-yard box looked destined for the upper corner until it was batted away by Paes. In the 68th, substitute Carlos Vela played an incisive through-ball to Bouanga that produced the Black & Gold’s best chance of the match. Bouanga’s shot, however, trickled off target.
While pushing for a late equalizer, LAFC allowed Dallas defender Sam Junqua into a dangerous space near the penalty arc and watched him drive a left-footed shot past a frozen McCarthy. Junqua’s first MLS goal in his last 58 MLS appearances sealed the three points for the home team.
LAFC, which has scored just five goals in the seven MLS matches it has played since losing the Champions League final on June 4, dominated the possession battle against Dallas (63 percent to 37), and took more than twice as many shots (15 to 7), yet failed to secure a result.
NEWS & NOTES
- LAFC played its 29th game in all competitions (MLS, Concacaf Champions League, Open Cup) on July 1 vs. FC Dallas. The 29 games played to start a season through July 1 is the most played in MLS history, four more than the Seattle Sounders, who played 25 through July 1 when they went to the Champions League Final.
- With the loss, LAFC is now 9-5-5 on the season for 32 points and sits in second place in the Western Conference.
- LAFC has not won in Texas since defeating FC Dallas 3-2 on Oct. 20, 2021. It’s been a span of 619 days since LAFC last defeated a team on the road in the Lone Star state.
- Goalkeeper John McCarthy made his 60th MLS regular season appearance Saturday.
- Defender Diego Palacios registered his 80th MLS regular season start.
“They really had nothing all game,” said LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead. “For that to be the result is rough. Sometimes that’s just football. You’ve got to move on.”
“We can discuss all the variables,” added Acosta. “Congested schedule. We can talk about the weather, talk about this, talk about that … We were unable to capitalize on our chances and we were [made] to pay for it.”
LAFC will have two days off before returning to action at the Rose Bowl against Galaxy on Tuesday July 4. That game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. PT and can be seen on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and heard on 710 AM ESPN Los Angeles and 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish).
The twentieth installment of the “El Trafico” derby is expected to break the MLS single-game attendance record of 74,479 that was set at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium on March 5, 2022.
