Coach Bob Bradley preached patience as the Los Angeles Football Club sought to stay perfect at home.On Saturday night it was a message that the team needed to hear.
Facing a Chicago Fire squad that had given up a goal apiece in its last two matches and lost both of them, LAFC pushed to find the magic strike that would have given it six wins in six tries in front of its supporters in 2019.
The moment never came, however, and a club record five-match winning streak at Banc of California Stadium ended as LAFC (7-1-3, 24 points) played its second scoreless draw in team history.
“With a lot of numbers back finding the right pass, the quality of the pass, definitely hurt us,” Bradley said.
With right back Steven Beitashour returning to the LAFC lineup after missing last Sunday’s match in Seattle due to knee soreness, the top-scoring team in Major League Soccer appeared to be at full strength at kickoff.
Aided by the availability of striker Adama Diomande for the first time since week six, when LAFC marauded over D.C. United, and designated player Andre Horta, who had not played since week four, Bradley threw what he could at the stout Chicago defense.
Unlike the teams’ first meeting in 2018, when a down Chicago side dismantled a flat-footed LAFC 3-1 in a pivotal match with a month remaining in the regular season, the Black & Gold pushed for an advantage from the opening whistle as they attempted to turn the page from last weekend’s 1-1 result in Seattle.
Thirty minutes into the match it was clear that LAFC’s attack would have to dissect a compact group aligned in two rows of four in front of Chicago goalkeeper David Ousted to get a positive result.
Several chances in front of the Chicago goal prompted an announced crowd of 22,154 groan in displeasure as near misses and stifled chances mounted.
A corner kick just before the half hour mark saw LAFC defender Jordan Harvey take two whacks at the ball before striker Christian Ramirez had his chance.
“Maybe a little frustration creeps in,” Bradley said. “We had some set pieces that we didn’t take advantage of.”As the clock ticked towards halftime, LAFC ramped up its creativity to breakdown Chicago (2-4-4, 10 points).The Fire took their chances when they could, and did as good a job as any LAFC opponent this year in limiting the effectiveness of Carlos Vela, who was limited to just one shot on goal in the match.
The 30-year-old Mexican star nearly connected with fellow winger Diego Rossi, but the young Uruguayan just missed putting his right-footed shot on frame.
Chicago almost snuck one past LAFC goalkeeper Miller late in the first half when he stepped up into no man’s land and got away with a one-on-one situation against a Fire player.
In the second half, an LAFC goal was wiped off the board as Beitashour was called offside in the 53rd minute.
Chicago came closest to scoring when Aleksander Katai crossed the ball behind Namanja Nikolic, who could not put his foot on the ball.
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