Another thriller: LAFC take narrow CCL advantage over Philadelphia Union

CHESTER, Pa. – LAFC and the Philadelphia Union just keep treating us to riveting slugfests, and so it was again during the first leg of their Concacaf Champions League semifinal series at damp Subaru Park on Wednesday night. But even with their last four meetings – all entertaining, agonizingly tight occasions – ending in draws, somehow the Californians keep finding an edge when it counts most.

In all four of those matches, Philly clawed their way into a second-half lead, only to be stunned by late equalizers, most evocatively in last season’s MLS Cup final at BMO Stadium, where Gareth Bale’s towering header snatched a league championship out of the Union’s hands at the death.

On Wednesday, it was Kellyn Acosta’s injury-time equalizer that gut-punched the home side and put LAFC in pole position to advance to the CCL final on home turf in next Tuesday’s second leg. They hold the away-goals edge after the 1-1 draw.

“We've been up, again, by one goal, and they scored at the end,” said Union playmaker Dániel Gazdag postgame. “So yeah, it's starting to be really annoying against them.”

It was a heavy psychological blow after so much had broken in his team’s favor on this evening.

Storms rolled through the area in the hours before kickoff, soaking the choppy pitch and subjecting the visitors from the West Coast to a windchill off the Delaware River, helping the Union impose themselves on LAFC early. Carlos Vela and Dénis Bouanga could find little joy for the Angelinos, who were bailed out by a few sterling saves from goalkeeper John McCarthy, a Philadelphia native and former Union reserve.

“Much like what we saw in the second half of the MLS Cup final, it was quite direct from the center backs to the forwards, and often to the right wing to [Alejandro\] Bedoya,” noted coach Steve Cherundolo. “That's what we expected and that’s what we got – non-ideal conditions with the field, and that's exactly how you should play this game against us.

“What we didn't do in the first half is get enough pressure on their center backs, and on some of the midfielders. They had too much time with the ball, the ball was uncovered and it's always difficult for our back four to deal with those situations.”

Cherundolo responded with a halftime adjustment – “we moved Kellyn a little bit next to me and then Cifu [José Cifuentes] was able to press higher, and that allowed also our forwards to put some pressure on the ball when their center backs had it,” explained holding midfielder Ilie Sánchez. But just like in Philly’s quarterfinal series with Liga MX’s Atlas, Gazdag’s late penalty kick conversation – the result of a Video Review handball decision against none other than Acosta – looked to have delivered the home win and clean sheet Philadelphia craved.

“They had the game in their pockets,” said Sanchez.

But then Jack Elliott shanked a late clearance off the back of Gazdag, gifting possession to Acosta, who played a pass forward and then raced into the box to bounce a nimble, resourceful finish past Andre Blake, redeeming himself by leveling matters as the tie shifts to Los Angeles.

“They had the better of the chances, so we're ecstatic with the result – obviously not with the performance,” said Cherundolo. “But one thing about this team, they find ways, and they never give up.”

Jim Curtin wore a rueful smile as he addressed reporters afterwards.

“We obviously have to do better to close the game out. But again, two really good teams, a match that could have gone either way, really,” he said. “My group right now is upset and angry, as they should be. Because we had a little lapse of judgment at the end of the game. But we'll regroup, and go out to LA and make the city proud.”

Have the Black & Gold crawled into the Union’s heads? Jack McGlynn dismissed the idea.

“No, I think for sure there's none of that,” said the young homegrown center mid. “We know we can beat them. We showed that tonight, that we played really well against them. So I think we can go there with full confidence.”

His club’s ability to conjure up two away goals vs. Atlas offers hope, as does their track record of scoring freely at LAFC’s house. Cherundolo’s side, though, still undefeated this season, have been dominant in Exposition Park of late.

“We know we can go there and score. We did it in Mexico, we've scored a lot there before. So I think it's just closing out the game is what we need to do there,” said McGlynn. “We all know that we deserved to win the game. These are competitions you need to come out with a win. I think that error, it could cost us, so we just need to get rid of that.”