Miscellaneous
In the sixth match of the season, Los Angeles Football Club (2-2-2) opened a four-game home stand with a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids. Carlos Vela played 60 very important minutes for the black and gold, but it was a first half brace from Diego Rossi that lifted LAFC back into the win column. The back line bent at times, no more so than in the transitional sequence that allowed the Rapids goal in the opening stages of the second half, but the LAFC defense was able to ride the game out and maintain the lead through the final whistle in another positive performance. The win marked what LAFC hopes is the beginning of a very successful home stand; Bob Bradley was bullish in this week's media day about the club's desire to capture six points over two matches. However, in order to do so, LAFC will have to defeat a team that it has yet to win against in its short history. LAFC and New York City Football Club have only met in two league matches over LAFC's first three seasons. Both matches ended in 2-2 draws during the 2018 and 2019 campaigns. In 2021, NYCFC marches on Banc of California Stadium as the top offense in the eastern conference by measure of scoring; NYCFC's 11 goals are tied for 3rd in MLS, behind only Seattle (14) and Sporting Kansas City (12). The boys in blue have also surrendered only 6 goals so far this season, so the team represents a legitimate challenge for LAFC on both sides of the pitch. In this seventh episode of the 2021 season, writers-at-Large Alex Dwyer and Ryan Wallerson, alongside in-house tactician Pierce Maher, breakdown LAFC's victory over the Colorado Rapids in the first of this four-match home stand, preview this weekend's matchup against NYCFC, and talk a little east coast supporter culture at the end.