Emmanuel Sabbi scored in the 20th minute Sunday night and the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps made the slim lead stand up for a 1-0 win over LAFC.
Vancouver (11-3-5, 38 points) stayed a point behind first-place San Diego in the West table even though LAFC drove play much of the night. The Whitecaps were outshot 15-5 and had possession for only 42.2 percent of the match. They managed only one shot on frame.
But that one shot was all they needed. First-rate service from Jeevan Badwal got Sabbi the ball on the left side of the box. Dribbling once to settle the ball, he then flicked a shot past goalie David Ochoa and inside the right post for his second goal.
LAFC (7-5-5, 26 points) only got four of its shots to net and fell into a three-way tie for seventh with the Colorado Rapids and Austin. Defender Ryan Hollingshead came closest to equalizing in the 71st minute when he beat Yohei Takaoka from the left side but smacked his shot off the left post.
David Martinez got his shot on net in the 73rd minute but couldn’t beat Takaoka and Nathan Ordaz threatened in the 90th minute but was denied.
The main pregame storyline concerned the guy Ordaz replaced in the lineup in the 60th minute. Olivier Giroud played his final match for LAFC after just under a year with the team, returning to his native France to play with LOSC Lille.
The all-time leading goal scorer in French national team history didn’t have the impact many predicted he would in MLS, finishing with just five goals in 38 matches. His last match for LAFC was more of the same as he squeezed off a match-high four shots but wasn’t able to dent the net’s backside.
Giroud’s last attempt for LAFC came in the 50th minute, when he could have gotten it level on an attempt from the center of the box. But the shot sailed high and wide right.
–Field Level Media
