LAFC vs San Jose Earthquakes – May 20, 2023
Winning four of their last seven games, the Black and Gold finished the night in a 2-1 victory in the LAFC vs San Jose Earthquakes match at BMO Stadium. Forwards Stipe Biuk and Carlos Vela had a goal each while Quakes defender Miguel Trauco scored his first ever MLS goal.
In just three minutes into the game, Biuk gave LAFC the lead in a beautiful play that involved terrific ball movement through five Black and Gold jerseys near the top of the penalty box. The goal was Biuk’s first for the 2023 MLS season.
In response, San Jose took six shots at goal in order to convert their equalizer which came in the 52nd minute of the match. Trauco took a long lob shot that bounced past LAFC goalkeeper John McCarthy and into the net after passing through a clustered penalty area.
The match kept tight as it went into stoppage time, but it didn’t take long for Vela to seize the opportunity after a handball call on Quakes’ Tanner Beason. Vela then converted the penalty kick to give LAFC the 2-1 lead.
Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski made five saves throughout the game for San Jose, who have now lost two in a row in back to back games against both LA clubs. LAFC now moves into first place in the Western Conference with a 7-1-4 record for 25 points. In league history, that’s the most points by a defending MLS Cup Champion team across 12 matches played.
With a couple days of rest, LAFC will host the LA Galaxy on Tuesday, May 23 in an episode of El Tráfico for the Round of 16 of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
