LAFC’s path to MLS playoffs grows steeper – Daily News

Despite repeated missteps and setbacks in 2021, Los Angeles Football Club clings to control of their own destiny with a regular season quarterback to go.

Evenly split between home and road competitions, seven of LAFC’s last eight opponents currently rank above them in the Major League Soccer Western Conference table or are tied with the Black & Gold at 33 points.

“It means there is still a lot to play,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said on Tuesday. “We understand that. We know that we’ve been talking for a few weeks now that all games are playoff type games with a lot of stuff at stake. Six point type games. There is certainly a solid understanding of what each game will be like. . ”

This was true 10 days ago, when LAFC won a three-game winning streak at Providence Park but failed to score a point, losing 2-1 to the Portland Timbers for the second time this year. . Bradley’s side went on to be shut out 2-0 in San Jose on Saturday, which once again pushed them below the playoff line.

“We have to do everything now,” said LAFC defenseman Marco Farfan. “There is no room for error. We dug ourselves in a deep hole.

Visiting Los Angeles on Wednesday for its only regular season appearance at Banc of California Stadium, Portland is undefeated in its last six games, including five wins in that streak after a 6-1 loss to Real Salt Lake over of the weekend that blew the Timbers into the top four in the West.

“I think they’re healthy, and then you can see that with more of their grassroots players on the pitch playing well, there’s confidence, there’s understanding,” Bradley said. .

Besieged by injuries all season as well, LAFC couldn’t find a way to turn the corner like Portland did.

Eduard Atuesta missed his second straight game in San Jose with a right ankle injury. The Colombian midfielder remains questionable for Wednesday’s critical showdown.

The same goes for Brian Rodriguez, who was unavailable for selection at San Jose due to a left hamstring issue that left LAFC (9-11-6) without a designated player on the field after the departure of Diego Rossi and sporadic appearances of Carlos Vela in the formation. due to a persistent quadriceps injury.

Ahead of a demoralizing 2-1 loss to the Timbers in July, when a header in stoppage time killed the Black & Gold’s only other three-game winning streak of the season, LAFC played seven straight games against Portland undefeated.

Under the guidance of Venezuelan head coach Giovanni Savarese, Portland (12-10-4, 40 points) has been consistent with his approach using a medium to low defensive block that smothers midfield, forcing opponents to attack from the fenders and sets. offensively with counterattacks or crosses in the box.