A late Mamadou Fall equalizer canceled out another Yimmi Chara bicycle-kick golazo, as LAFC salvaged a 1-1 draw against the 10-man Portland Timbers in MLS After Dark action at Banc of California Stadium on Sunday night.
Protecting a 1-0 lead after Chara's highlight-reel first-half opener, the Timbers couldn't quite see out what would have been a fantastic road victory, as Fall found a tap-in leveler just before the final whistle to ensure the sides split the points.
The visitors jumped on top in the 18th minute, with Chara delivering the opener in spectacular fashion. After winning AT&T Goal of the Week honors in Week 1 for his bicycle-kick golazo against the New England Revolution, the Colombian winger improbably replicated the feat with a quick-reaction strike following a deflection in the penalty box.
LAFC had to make two injury subs in the second half, with star attacker Carlos Vela coming off at halftime as a cautionary measure, while defender Diego Palacios picked up a knock and was replaced by Latif Blessing in the 67th minute.
As the hosts continued to chase an equalizer, the match turned on its head just past the hour mark when Portland's Claudio Bravo was given a second yellow card for a tactical foul on LAFC's Cristian Arango, putting the visitors down to 10 men for the rest of the contest.
The Timbers were moments away from maintaining the clean sheet and preserving all three points anyway, but the Black & Gold finally found their breakthrough in the 93rd minute. Fall did the honors, cashing home a simple tap-in off a feed from Brian Rodriguez to end the contest on level terms.
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: A road point in one of the more challenging venues in MLS isn't a bad result for Portland, but Gio Savarese's group will still be disappointed to see the victory slip away in that fashion after getting so close to taking all three points. LAFC can breathe a sigh of relief at salvaging the draw with Fall's dramatic finish, but the pressing issue for them becomes Vela's status after his halftime exit.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Most players go their entire career without converting a finish like this, making it pretty mind-boggling that Yimmi Chara has done it twice in two games to start his 2022 campaign.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: His team didn't quite pull out the victory, but Yimmi Chara gets the honors for this one for delivering another AT&T Goal of the Week frontrunner.
Next Up
- LAFC: Saturday, March 12 at Inter Miami CF | 1:30 pm ET (Univision, TUDN, Twitter)
- POR: Saturday, March 12 vs. Austin FC | 10 pm ET (MLS LIVE on ESPN+, DAZN in Canada)
