Jeremy Ebobisse and Frankie Amaya scored goals Wednesday night and Los Angeles FC extended their winning streak to six matches with a 2-0 blanking of visiting Toronto FC.
LAFC (17-7-8, 59 points) jumped over Minnesota United for third place in MLS’ Western Conference, just a point behind co-leaders San Diego FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps. Los Angeles has a game in hand on San Diego and would finish no worse than second if it wins on Sunday at Austin FC and on Oct. 18 at Colorado.
Toronto (5-14-14, 29 points) ended its MLS-record streak of eight straight draws, though not with the result it wanted. A lack of offense has colored the team’s effort this year and this fixture was no different as Toronto FC were outshot 18-10, including 7-3 in shots on target.
Both teams entered the match with makeshift lineups thanks to international duty. LAFC was missing prolific scorers Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min, who combined for the team’s last 18 goals going into Wednesday night. Bouanga’s 24 markers are tied for the league lead with Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi.
However, LAFC found offense as the result of a horrid giveaway in the 13th minute by Toronto’s Alonso Coello. Ebobisse took the ball just past midfield and sailed in one-on-one against goalie Sean Johnson, angling a lefty kick by the diving Johnson into the right corner of the net.
Toronto, which has scored just 33 goals in 33 matches, was able to keep possession for long stretches at times in the first half but couldn’t generate quality chances. Its only shot on goal in the half was a low-percentage attempt by Coello from long range that Hugo Lloris denied.
Johnson kept Toronto within a goal by saving David Martinez’s penalty kick in the 60th minute but couldn’t deny Amaya’s blistering shot from the box’s right side in the 69th minute. It came off a mistake by Jose Cifuentes when he lost the ball in the defensive end.
Lloris made a late save on Kosi Thompson to secure Los Angeles’ third straight clean sheet. LAFC haven’t conceded a goal in 346 minutes, dating back to a 4-1 win on Sept. 21 against Real Salt Lake.
–Field Level Media
