Los Angeles Football Club News: Game Notes vs. Columbus Crew

2022 LAFC SCHEDULE

OVERALL: 7-3-2

HOME: 4-1-2

AWAY: 3-2-0

U.S. Open Cup

HOME: 2-0-0

AWAY: 0-0-0

DATE OPPONENT TIME/ RESULT
Saturday, February 26 vs. Colorado Rapids 3-0 W
Sunday, March 6 vs. Portland Timbers 1-1 T
Saturday, March 12 @ Inter Miami FC 2-0 W
Sunday, March 20 vs. Vancouver 3-1 W
Saturday, April 2 @ Orlando 4-2 W
Saturday, April 9 @ Galaxy 2-1 L
Sunday, April 17 vs. Sporting KC 3-1 W
Wednesday, April 20 vs. OCSC 5-2 W
Sunday, April 24 @FC Cincinnati 2-1 W
Sunday, May 1 vs. Minnesota United 2-0 W
Saturday, May 7 vs. Philadelphia Union 2-2 D
Tuesday, May 10 vs. Portland 2-0 W
Saturday, May 14 @ Colorado Rapids 2-0 L
Wednesday, May 18 vs. Austin FC 2-1 L

2022 MLS REGULAR SE4ASON
Saturday, May 21, 2022 – 12:30 p.m. PT
Lower.com Field – Columbus, OH
TV: UniMás, TUDN
RADIO: 710 AM ESPN LA , ESPN App, KFBW 980 AM La
Mera Mera (SPA)
MATCH OFFICIALS
REFEREE: Victor Rivas
AR 1: Andrew Bigelow
AR 2: Jeffrrey Swartzel
4TH OFFICIAL: Luis Arrroyo
VAR: Drew Fischer
AVAR: Jeff Muschik

PLAYER AVAILABILITY REPORT

QUESTIONABLE:
• Franco Escobar – L Calf
• Ismael Tajouri- Shradi – L Quad
OUT:
• Erik Dueñas – L Knee
• Julian Gaines – Pelvis
• Eddie Segura – R Knee
• Ryan Hollingshead – R Knee
• Latif Blessing – R Knee/ankle
*Player availability report as of 4 pm PT – Friday, May
20.
Health & Safety Protocols include the following reasons:
• Quarantine related to high risk close contact
• Quarantine due to high risk behavior
• Pending COVID-19 Test Results
• Inconclusive COVID-19 Test Results
• Positive COVID-19 test or confirmed case
• Other illness not related to COVID-19

LOS ANGELES FOOTBALL CLUB GAME NOTES

LAFC vs. CLB

LAFC hits the road to take on the Columbus Crew. Saturday’s contest will
feature the first meeting between LAFC and Columbus since May 11, 2019.

This will also be the third ever meeting between both sides since
LAFC’s inaugural season.


LAFC leads the series with two wins, outscoring Columbus 5-0. In their
first meeting, LAFC defeated Columbus 2-0 at Banc of California Stadium
on June 23, 2018. LAFC then traveled to Columbus, defeating the Crew 3-
0 at the Historic Crew Stadium on May 11, 2019.


The Black & Gold will visit Lower.com Field for the first time and look to
capture a win after suffering two straight losses vs. Colorado on May 14
and vs. Austin FC on May 18.

LAFC vs. CLB All TIME RESULTS

LAFC VS. CLB ALL TIME REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS
LAFC RECORD 2-0-0 (W-L-T)
HOME
GAMES: 1-0-0 ( 2 GF, 0 GA)
ROAD
GAMES: 1-0-0 (3 GF, 0 GA)
DATE SCORE RESULT STADIUM
06/23/2018 LAFC 2-0 CLB W
BANC OF CALIFORNIA
STADIUM
05/11/2019 LAFC 3-0 CLB W Historic Crew Stadium

TALE OF THE TAPE – 2022

LAFC CLB
12 Games Played 11
7-3-2 W-L-T Record 3-4-4
(2nd West) Standing (10th East)
24/ 14/ +10 GF / GA / GD 15 / 13/ +@
2.00 Goals/Game 1.36
Vela (5) Most Goals Zelarayán (4)
Cifuentes/Palacios/Vela (3) Most Assists Etienne (4)
3 Shutouts 4
167/ 162 FC /FS 129/ 154
35 / 0 Yellow / Red 23/ 0

THE CREW

The Crew have just one win in their last eight games (1-4-3 L), a 3-0 home
victory over D.C. United in late April. Columbus has had fewer than the 13
points they have now through 11 games of a season just three times in club
history.

LAFC vs. CLB ALL-TIME LEADERS

Adama Diomande leads LAFC in most goals (2) against Columbus.
The Black & Gold have not conceded a goal against Columbus.
LAFC VS. CLB ALL TIME REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS
LAFC RECORD 2-0-0 (W-L-T)
HOME
GAMES: 1-0-0 ( 2 GF, 0 GA)
ROAD
GAMES: 1-0-0 (3 GF, 0 GA)
DATE SCORE RESULT STADIUM
06/23/2018 LAFC 2-0 CLB W
BANC OF CALIFORNIA
STADIUM
05/11/2019 LAFC 3-0 CLB W Historic Crew Stadium
ALL TIME REGULAR-SEASON LEADERS
LAFC COLUMBUS
GOALS 2 Adama Diomande 0
ASSISTS 1 4 Players Tied 0
SHOTS 7 Diomande / Rossi 2 Pedro Santos
SHOTS ON GOAL 3 Adama Diomande 2 Pedro Santos
FOULS
COMMITTED 4 Benny Fielhaber 6 Artur
FOULS SUFFERED 6 Blessing / Fielhaber 6 Pedro Santos
WINS 2 Tyler Miller 0
LOSSES 0 1 Bendik/Kempin
SHUTOUTS 2 Tyler Miller 0
SAVES 2 Tyler Miller 5 Joseph Bendik
GOALS ALLOWED 0 3 Joseph Bendik

COUNT YOUR BLESSING

Blessing entered Wednesday’s contest with 8,854 total regular season
minutes played, trailing only Diego Rossi (8,856). Blessing played 45 minutes
vs. Austin on May 18, surpassing Rossi’s record three minutes into the
match.
Blessing now leads LAFC with 8,901 total regular season minutes played and
in regular season appearances with 127.

VELA CHASING HISTORY

Carlos Vela made MLS history Wednesday night after scoring his 62nd MLS
career goal, becoming the third fastest player to score 100 (62 goals & 48
assists) combined regular season goals and assists in just 98 regular season
appearances.

VELAS REGULAR SEASON GOALS AND ASSIST
GP G A G + A MINUTES PLAYED
98 62 38 100 7,774
Blessing entered Wednesday’s contest with 8,854 total regular season
minutes played, trailing only Diego Rossi (8,856). Blessing played 45 minutes
vs. Austin on May 18, surpassing Rossi’s record three minutes into the
match.
Blessing now leads LAFC with 8,901 total regular season minutes played and
in regular season appearances with 127.
MLS LEADERS TO SCORE 100 COMBINED GOALS + ASSISTS
DATE GP G A GOALS + ASSISTS PLAYER
6/2/2018 95 58 42 100 Sebastian Giovinco
7/15/2015 96 62 39 101 Robbie Keane
5/19/2022 98 62 48 100 Carlos Vela
10/27/2021 105 88 12 100 Josef Martinez
8/29/1999 109 46 54 100 Preki

His 100 goals and assists account for 36 percent of the 277 regular season
goals in LAFC history.

FIVE YEARS STRONG

2022 marks LAFC’s fifth anniversary season in Major League Soccer.
Since its inaugural season in 2018, LAFC has been amongst the league leaders in
wins, points, and goals scored. LAFC is five victories away from reaching 70 MLS
regular season wins.
MLS LEADERS IN REGULAR SEASON POINTS SINCE 2018
RANK TEAM POINTS WINS GOALS
1 NYCFC 230 66 238
2 LAFC 229 65 277
3 PHI 227 64 215
4 SEA 227 66 214

DEFEND THE BANC

Since 2018, LAFC is ranked 2nd with one of the best home regular season records
in MLS with 143 points, losing just eight regular season matches at home (41-8-
20, W-L-T).
LAFC suffered their first loss at home this season 2-1 vs. Austin FC on
Wednesday, May 18. Wednesday’s loss was LAFC’s eighth regular season loss at
Banc of California Stadium since entering the league in 2018.
MLS LEADERS IN MOST POINTS AT HOME SINCE 2018
GP W L T POINTS
NYCFC 67 45 8 14 149
LAFC 68 41 8 20 143
PHI 67 42 12 13 139

DRY SPELL NO MORE

Carlos Vela ended a seven-match MLS scoring drought with a penalty against
Austin on Wednesday. Vela’s last goal scored was during the 3-1 win vs.
Vancouver on March 20, 2022.
The run equaled Vela’s longest without scoring in MLS, also going seven
straight without a goal from August-November 2021.
Vela got off to a strong start this season securing four goals and three assists
in the first seven matches of the season, Vela nohas five goals and three
assists through 12 games played.

B-ROD IS BACK

Forward Bryan Rodriguez made his return to play on Wednesday night,
replacing Kwadwo Opoku in the 69th minute vs. Austin FC.
Rodriguez missed six games after suffering hamstring injury in the 11th
minute vs. Galaxy on April 9.

30 AND COUNTING AT HOME

LAFC has scored in 32 consecutive regular season home matches, the ninth
such streak in MLS history.
LAFC’s 2-0 win over Minnesota United on May 1 at Banc of California
Stadium marked the Club’s 30th straight game where the Black & Gold
scored at home.

46 STRAIGHT

LAFC conceded two first-half penalties against Colorado on May 14, the first
penalties LAFC has conceded since October 28, 2020.
The Black & Gold had a 46-match run without giving away a penalty, the longest
streak in MLS history, besting the 42-match streak set by San Jose in 2009-11.

J-MAC ON GOAL

Goalkeeper John McCarthy made his first MLS appearance for the Black & Gold vs.
Colorado on Saturday, May 14 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
McCarthy had a standout performance, capturing four big saves against the Rapids.

OPEN CUP KILLERS

Forwards Danny Musovski and Cristian Arango got off to a hot start scoring two
goals each of LAFC’s first match of the 2022 Open Cup Tournament.
Musovski and Arango became the Club’s 2nd and 3rd players to score multiple
goals in a single Open Cup match behind Diego Rossi (3).

LAFC LEADERS IN OPEN CUP GOALS AND ASSISTS
Player G A G+A
Diego Rossi 6 3 9
Carlos Vela 3 1 4
Danny Musovski 2 1 3
Latif Blessing 2 1 3
Adama Diomande 2 0 2
Cristian Arango 2 0 2
Lee Nguyen 1 1 2
Marco Ureña 1 0 1
Benny Feilhaber 1 0 1
Cal Jennings 1 0 1

Diego Rossi leads LAFC in Open Cup goals scored (6), assists (3), most goals
scored in a single match (3), and combined goals and assists (9).

SUPER SUBS

This season eight of the 21 goals scored by LAFC have been scored by
players who entered the match as a sub.
This season LAFC leads the league for most goals scored by a substitute
player (8).

LAFC GOALS SCORED BY A SUBSTITUTTE PLAYER
PLAYER SUB IN MIN GOAL MIN OPPONENT DATE
TAJOURI-SHRADI 70 82 MIAMI 3/12/2022
MAHALA 64 90+3 ORLANDO 4/2/2022
ARANGO 66 79 GALAXY 4/9/2022
TAJOURI-SHRADI 66 70 SPORITNG KC 4/17/2022
CIFUENTES 66 78 SPORTING KC 4/17/2022
MUSOVSKI 72 79 FC CINCINNATI 4/24/2022
HOLLINGSHEAD 74 82 MINNESOTA 5/1/2022
CIFUENTES 63 90 MINNESOTA 5/1/2022

COMEBACK KIDS

This season LAFC has captured 11 of its 23 points when they have come from
behind after trailing in the first half.
Additionally, LAFC’s two ties this season have been in games where the Black &
Gold have had to make a comeback.

LOCKING DOWN D

LAFC has only allowed 14 goals in their first 12 games this season. LAFC’s Expected Goals
Against Per 90 Minutes is 1.12, and is fourth-best in the league.
This season, LAFC did not concede a goal in the second half in the first nine games before
Philadelphia scored in the second half on May 7.
EXPECTED GOALS AGAINST PER 90 MINUTES
TEAM GAMES XG AGAINST
LAFC 12 1.12
NYCFC 11 1.12
Colorado 12 1.10
FC Dallas 12 1.09
Montreal 12 1.01
Philadelphia 12 0.92
Prior to losing to the Galaxy on April 9, the Black & Gold were off to one of its best
starts in Club history, going undefeated through the first five games. LAFC went
undefeated in its first five games in 2019, 2020 and 2022.
The Club recorded its second best defensive start since 2018, allowing just 14 goals
in the first 12 matches and setting a +10 goal differential after scoring 23 goals.
LAFC THROUGH FIRST 12 MATCHES SINCE 2018
YEAR GF GA GD W-L-T RECORD POINTS
2022 24 14 +10 7-3-2 23
2021 15 12 +3 5-4-3 18
2020 21 25 -4 4-4-4 18
2019 29 8 +21 8-1-3 26
2018 24 19 +5 6-3-3 21

OFFENSIVE DEFENSE

The LAFC back line is off to a hot start offensively, scoring six of the 23 goals
scored by the Black & Gold this 2022 regular season
2022 REGULAR SEASON GOALS SCORED BY DEFENDERS
DATE PLAYER MIN OPPONENT
3/6/22 FALL 90+3 POR
3/20/22 HOLLIINGSHEAD 27′ VAN
3/20/22 HOLLIINGSHEAD 70′ VAN
4/2/22 MURILLO 38′ ORL
5/1/22 HOLLIINGSHEAD 83′ MIN
5/7/22 ESCOBAR 82′ PHI

FRANCO’S FIRST

Defender Franco Escobar scored the match equalizer in the 82nd minute of the 2-
2 draw vs. Philadelphia on May 7.
The last time Escobar scored in his career was during the 1-0 Atlanta win vs. New
England on October 19, 2019.
Escobar now has three MLS career regular season goals.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

This season, LAFC had at least one player named to the MLS Team Of The Week
through the first five games.
LAFC Head Coach Steve Cherundolo earned his second Coach of the Week Honor
after defeating Minnesota United 2-0 on Sunday, May 1.

2022 MLS TEAM OF THE WEEK HONORS
WEEK PLAYER HONOR
1 CARLOS VELA TEAM & PLAYER OF THE WEEK
1 ILIE SÁNCHEZ TEAM OF THE WEEK
2 MAMADOU FALL TEAM OF THE WEEK
3 ILIE SÁNCHEZ TEAM OF THE WEEK
4 RYAN HOLLINGSHEAD TEAM OF THE WEEK
4 CARLOS VELA TEAM OF THE WEEK (BENCH)
5 STEVE CHERUNDOLO COACH OF THE WEEK
5 JESÚS MURILLO TEAM OF THE WEEK
5 ILIE SÁNCHEZ TEAM OF THE WEEK (BENCH)
7 MAMADOU FALL TEAM OF THE WEEK
7 ISMAEL TAJOURI-SHRADI TEAM OF THE WEEK (BENCH)
8 KELLYN ACOSTA TEAM OF THE WEEK
9 STEVE CHERUNDOLO COACH OF THE WEEK
9 DIEGO PALACIOS TEAM OF THE WEEK (BENCH)

UPCOMING REGULAR SEASON MILESTONES

Cristian Arango
• Is four goals from reaching 20 MLS career goals scored.
Latif Blessing
• Is three matches away from reaching 130 LAFC regular season appearances.
Franco Escobar
• Is 3 games away from reaching 70 MLS appearances.
Doneil Henry
• Is 5 starts from reaching 100 MLS starts.
Jesus Murillo
• Is four games from reaching 50 MLS regular season starts and appearances.
Brian Rodriguez
• Is two sgames from reaching 50 MLS regular season appearances.
Ismael Tajouri-Shradi
• Is one game from reaching 90 regular season starts appearances and 50
starts.
Carlos Vela
• Is two appearances from reaching 100 MLS Career regular season
appearances.
• Is two starts from reaching 90 MLS Career regular season starts.
• Is two assists away from registering 40 MLS Career assists.

STREAK STOPPED

LAFC lost 2-0 to Colorado on May 14, ending a run of 18 straight games with a
goal dating back to last September. LAFC has scored in its last 31 home MLS
matches dating back to August 2020, the longest active streak in MLS.

KEEPING IT CLEAN

Goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau recorded his third clean sheet with LAFC on
Sunday, May 1 during the 2-0 win over Minnesota United.
Crépeau became the third keeper in Club history to record a clean sheet in
their first appearance for LAFC and had two shutouts in his first six matches.
LAFC GOALKEEPER DEBUT CLEAN SHEETS
DATE PLAYER SCORE OPPONENT
02/26/2022 MAXIME CRÉPEAU 3-0 COLORADO
06/23/2021 TOMAS ROMERO 2-0 DALLAS
03/01/2018 TYLER MILLER 1-0 SEATTLE
LAFC GOALKEEPER REGULAR SEASON CLEAN SHEETS
PLAYER GP GS CS GA
TYLER MILLER 61 61 19 78
MAXIME CRÉPEAU 11 11 3 12
TOMAS ROMERO 18 18 4 28
PABLO SISNIEGA 28 28 3 42
KENNETH VERMER 8 8 1 16

90 & COUNTING

Carlos Vela is two appearances from reaching 100 MLS regular season
appearances. Vela is also two starts away from reaching 90 MLS regular
season starts.
Vela became the fourth LAFC player to reach 90 MLS Regular season
appearances in Black & Gold during the 3-1 win vs. Vancouver on Sunday,
March 20.
Vela celebrated his 90th regular season appearance with a goal and an assist,
marking his fourth goal and first assist in four games played in 2022.
Latif Blessing leads the Black & Gold in regular season appearances and has
marked 127 regular season appearances with LAFC.
Blessing reached 150 all-time regular season appearances during May 7 vs.
Philadelphia.
90 & COUNTING
LAFC LEADERS IN REGULAR SEASON APPEARANCES
RANK GP PLAYER
1 127 LATIF BLESSING
2 104 DIEGO ROSSI
3 98 CARLOS VELA
4 96 EDUARD ATUESTA
5 77 MARK ANTHONY-KAYE
6 71 EDDIE SEGURA

WORLD CUP BOUND

Six LAFC players have helped their countries qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
Maxime Crépeau and Doneil Henry helped Canada qualify to the 2022 FIFA World Cup for
the first time in 36 years. Canada secured their qualification after defeating Jamaica 4-0 on
March 27. Team Canada placed first in the Concacaf region with 28 points.
Jose Cifuentes and Diego Palacios helped Ecuador qualify to the 2022 World Cup. Ecuador
placed fourth in the CONMEBOL region with 26 points and secured their trip to Qatar on
March 24, 2022.
Kellyn Acosta was one of the leaders for the United States as they qualified for the World
Cup. Acosta played 13 of 14 matches during the qualifiers for the U.S. Team USA finished
third in CONCACAF.
Acosta also became the first player of Japanese-American decent to qualify to the World
Cup with Team USA.
Brian Rodriguez helped Uruguay qualify for the 2022 World Cup making 11 appearances
and registering two assists during the qualifying matches.

LAFC AROUND THE WORLD

This season LAFC’s roster is composed of players of players born and or represent
14 different countries.

Argentina Dual Citizenship
• Franco Escobar
Canada
• Maxime Crépeau
• Doneil Henry
Colombia:
• Cristian Arango
• Jesús Murillo
• Eddie Segura
Ecuador
• José Cifuentes
• Diego Palacios
Ghana
• Latif Blessing
• Kwadwo Opoku
Nigeria
• Sebastien Ibegha
Mexico
• Carlos Vela
Uruguay:
• Brian Rodríguez
• Francisco Ginella
Senegal
• Mamadou Fall
• Mohamed Traore
Spain
• Ilie Sánchez
Switzerland
• Ismael Tajouri-Shradi Libya
USA DUAL CITIZENSHIP
• Kellyn Acosta
• Erik Dueñas Mexico
• Julian Gaines
• Ryan Hollingshead
• Cal Jennings
• Antonio Leone Mexico
• John McCarthy
• Daniel Musovski
• Tomas Romero El Salvador
• Christian Torres Mexico

COURTESY LAFC COMMUNICATIONS

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