It was night and bright lights for the Los Angeles Football Club's 4-1 entertaining win over visiting Orlando City SC to remain unbeaten at Banc of California Stadium.
Goalkeeper Tyler Miller received game-player accolades as he spearheaded an effective defense, allowing the offense to continually strike for a 2-0 halftime lead. In what's becoming a recent norm, LAFC forward Adama Diomande scored two goals and had another denied on a referee's call.
"A good win here today. We're doing a great job. Undefeated [at home] and hopefully we just keep going," said Dio. "Fantastic support. A lot of goals there today and we could have more if it wasn't for the VAR (Video Assisted Referee). The three points is the most important."
Said Miller: "A lot of the saves tonight, I was trying to make myself as big as possible and make it hard for them to beat me ... We had a tremendous effort from everybody and able to get this result for us."
The win puts LAFC (10-4-4) in second place with 34 points, one behind leader FC Dallas (10-3-5) in the MLS Western Conference. The team is second in league scoring with 41 goals in 18 games, roughly halfway through the 34-game schedule.
LAFC is one of only three teams to remain unbeaten at home this season and one of only three teams to have a winning record on the road. Despite the club having unprecedented first-year success, head coach Bob Bradley expects a greater level of football.
"Tonight, that was a hell of lot of good football ... I remind them that we should feel good about the way the first half went, the goals, some of the composure in the box and that we should continue," said Bradley.
"But we still have a tendency when things go well, we get caught up in the moment in ways that sometimes we are a little bit careless or we don't make the best decisions. And so, we just have to keep learning that."
"The other thing that needs to be said tonight is plain and simple: Tyler Miller made some great saves. So I think they had him as the Player of the Game and that was really well-deserved."
Miller kept Orlando's offense at bay until Adama Diomande scored the first goal of the game in the 28th minute on an assist by Mark-Anthony Kaye. Dio has started five of the seven games he's played for LAFC this season, has nine goals on 19 shots total, 13 shots on goal and two assists.
It didn't take long for LAFC to score again with Latif Blessing's short punch into the back of net for a 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute. Aaron Kovar and Kaye assisted on the goal. The stadium was rocking to the chants from the 3252 fan support section while smoke machines pumped yellow and grey goal-celebrating clouds that slowly dissipated.
"I don't think we had a great start to the second half so at a certain point, yes, I felt like: Okay, let's make some changes and see what happens," said Bradley.
Carlos Vela entered the game, substituting for midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye in the 64th minute to a standing ovation from the Banc of California Stadium crowd. Diego Rossi also replaced Aaron Kovar in the 64th minute.
"Definitely in the first half I think we were able to control the game really well. Bob [Coach Bradley] set out a game plan at the beginning of the year. We try to execute it every game."
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