HIGHLIGHTS | LAFC vs Club León – May 31, 2023
Although ending in a loss, there’s a decent amount of LAFC vs Club León highlights to cover in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final. Club León got on the board just 8 minutes into the match and added to their lead during the first half stoppage time.
Club León lost Columbian midfielder Yairo Moreno following an injury in the 8th minute. Elias Hernandez was substituted in but it was center back William Tesillo who scored his team’s first goal after a corner from winger Ángel Mena. Mena found an opportunity of his own five minutes into the first half stoppage time and scored from the penalty spot.
Down two, LAFC needed to figure out any possible way to get on the board and not leave in a shutout. Unfortunately they were outplayed all game. In the 92nd minute, Club León’s Osvaldo Rodríguez seemed to have scored his team’s third goal of the match on a header for LAFC’s Sergi Palencia, but referee Walter López Castellanos took back the scoring play for a foul on Palencia.
“What we were missing all night long was just quality in the final third and the final pass,” said head coach Steve Cherundolo after the game. “Our passing was some of the worst I’ve seen all season. Credit to Léon, they played excellent in the first half. We didn’t have answers for that. And so just backing up and receding and not defending forward has never been a successful way to defend. It’s never been the way we do things at LAFC and it’s certainly not something we plan on doing in the future, especially Sunday.”
Lucky enough, the LAFC vs Club León highlights did have some Black and Gold in them, as Palencia struck a low cross for none other than Dénis Bouanga who took a clean back-footed shot to the net four minutes into stoppage time.
Hopefully the Black and Gold can carry the momentum into the second leg of the LAFC vs Club León CONCACAF Champions League final. Sunday can’t come any sooner.
