LA Galaxy draw LAFC 1-1 in El Trafico III

A depleted LA Galaxy squad put in a brave effort, splitting the points with LAFC in front of a raucous crowd Friday night at the StubHub Center.

LAFC dominated the early going of the first two matchups, but it was the Galaxy who surprisingly took ahold of the game, and in the 15th minute Zlatan Ibrahimovic put LA ahead. The Swedish superstar chested the down ball off an Ola Kamara cross before sticking a leg out to pass the ball past goalkeeper Tyler Miller, and while LAFC appeared to pull off a goaline clearance, replays showed the ball crossed the line and VAR agreed. 1-0 Galaxy.

Sigi Schmid’s side continued to press, but despite Ibra having several good looks LA could only hold a one-goal advantage.

Carlos Vela made the Galaxy pay for their lack of cutting-edge, drawing a penalty off an ill-advised Perry Kitchen challenge in the box to give the El Tri regular his fourth goal in three El Traficos.

Both teams had golden chances to steal the win late but the match ended in a 1-1 draw.