Dejan Joveljic scored his 13th and 14th goals — and his first in MLS in more than two months — and the LA Galaxy rallied from two down to a 4-2 victory over visiting LAFC on Saturday night.
Ricard Puig had two assists to bring his total to 15, and then contributed his 11th goal for some late insurance to ensure the Galaxy snapped their three-game slide in league play against their intracity rival.
Edwin Cerrillo added his first career MLS goal, a brilliantly struck effort from about 22 yards out to level the game in between Joveljic’s tallies.
The four-goal, second-half outburst helped the Galaxy (16-6-7, 55 points) expand their lead over second-place LAFC (14-7-6, 48 points) in the Western Conference race.
Denis Bouanga scored his 17th goal and Mateusz Bogusz added his 14th as LAFC jumped out to a two-goal lead by the 15th minute.
But LAFC went from dominating the match before halftime to struggling to keep pace after it, and was reduced to 10 men in the 79th minute when referee Ted Unkel dismissed Lewis O’Brien for a late challenge with his studs exposed.
The Black-and-Gold saw their halftime lead completely erased by the 10-minute mark of the second period.
First came Joveljic’s first goal in the 53rd minute on a crafty effort from the right side of the penalty area. It was the Sebrian striker’s first tally since late June after battling a hamstring injury for most of the summer.
Then came Cerrillo’s strike from distance set up by Puig’s feed from the right flank, a perfectly struck swerving effort that beat Hugo Lloris to the top left corner.
Joveljic was in the right place at the right time for his second, redirecting what appeared to be Puig’s mis-hit shot into the bottom right corner from close range after a well-worked counter down the right flank.
Puig was far more clinical on his next chance in the 86th minute, curling his effort from about 15 yards into the bottom right corner.
–Field Level Media
