Cristian Arango scored in the third minute of second-half stoppage to lift Los Angeles FC to a dramatic 3-2 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Galaxy in a Western Conference semifinal on Thursday night.
Denis Bouanga scored the first two goals for LAFC and also contributed indirectly to Arango’s match winner to lift the home side to their second Western Conference final since joining MLS in 2018.
Top-seeded LAFC will host the winner of the other West semifinal between Austin FC and FC Dallas, scheduled for Sunday. Los Angeles hopes to reach the MLS Cup final for the first time.
Samuel Grandsir and Dejan Joveljic scored for the fourth-seeded Galaxy, who twice leveled the game after falling behind before conceding Arango’s late winner.
The Galaxy have a 6-2-5 lead in the regular-season series but have now lost on both occasions facing LAFC in the playoffs.
Arango’s goal was the third and final one of a frantic 15-minute stretch that determined his entertaining contest.
It came from a corner kick, which Bouanga reached at the back post and met it with an excellent low volley that forced Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond into a save.
Arango was first to the rebound and ripped a shot into the net from close range to send the home fans into delirium.
Thirteen minutes earlier, the fans thought their team had won when Bouanga scored his third goal in an LAFC shirt after his summer signing.
Arango spotted Ryan Hollingshead sprinting into the right side of the penalty area, and Hollingshead guided a low cross toward the penalty spot.
Kwadwo Opoku made the first contact on it, but it mostly stayed on course toward the back post, where his teammate Bouanga met it and finished into an open goal.
Jovejic entered the game shortly after and leveled the game 90 seconds following his introduction.
Victor Vazquez appeared to be trying to find Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez inside the penalty area. However, Jovejlic intercepted the pass, turned and fired a curling strike into the top right corner beyond goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, setting the stage for Arango’s last dramatic flourish.
–Field Level Media
