The black & gold were back at home and back in action tonight, as they looked to get past the insanity that was last week’s loss, and get back into the win column. The team was facing off against Sporting KC, a team that was looking for their first win of the season after opening up their campaign with two 1-1 draws. While some questions remain about one former LAFC striker’s future, the rumors surrounding another were put to rest, as Denis Bouanga takes the pitch tonight having signed a brand new extension. The stars were aligned for an LAFC masterclass, but would it play out as we expect?
🇨🇴🇫🇷🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇨🇴
🇺🇸🇺🇾🇵🇱🇬🇦🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/6DQA4HZF8l— LAFC (@LAFC) March 10, 2024
There was no snow to fluster Los Angeles, though they opened up the match with much of the same intensity as they did last week, which is to say, not very intense. Sporting KC were foot on throttle to open up proceedings and nearly took the lead on several occasions. Their best look of the night came on a Pulido strike in the 28th minute that was saved by Hugo Lloris to keep it scoreless.
Hugo Lloris keeps it scoreless 🧤#LAFCvSKC pic.twitter.com/eGif24dqCS
— LAFC (@LAFC) March 10, 2024
It was those efforts that kept the match scoreless going into the halftime break. Sporting were the better team the opening half and it wasn’t close. They kept 58% of possession, had 10 shots, nearly took the lead multiple times and controlled the pacing of the match. For LA, the silver lining is the match remaining scoreless to close out the first 45.
SKC will undoubtedly be disappointed to not have scored, but will be that much more hungry to start the second half. Luckily, LAFC are a team that have been much stronger in the second half over the last few years, so if they can weather the initial onslaught, they should be able to put themselves in positions to come away with a winner as the half unfolds.
The second half played out much like the first, with Sporting KC controlling the match and looking for the goal that would put them ahead on the road. The one thing LAFC did incredibly well was defend for their lives throughout this match. Lloris showed why he was a legend of the game, coming up with several huge saves in the second half to keep his side in the match.
With time winding down, we were still scoreless, but LAFC had turned up the pressure and started looking for a game winner of their own. They were the bullies in the final 15 minutes of the match, peppering the goal with shots. New arrival, David Martinez, nearly became the hero late, with a few of his looks nearly finding the back of the net. As it were, the final whistle blew and one of the more exciting scoreless draws came to a close.
For Sporting, they once again come away with a point, though this one probably feels a lot closer to three. The home side however, will be looking to find the cause for another slow start to the match as they try and avoid making this a trend.
Thoughts on the scoreless draw tonight? Leave a comment below!