By: Justin Ruderman
With the Supporters’ Shield secured, LAFC returned home to the Banc of California Stadium for decision day against Nashville SC. With the trophy presentation following the match, it was a perfect game for “Fan Appreciation Day at the Banc, which is celebrated at the final home game each season as a recognition of the unconditional, world-class support brought from the 3252-led, Black and Gold fanbase all year long. For the second time in five years, these fans were rewarded with the Supporters’ Shield, but since the title was already clinched, the game didn’t have much meaning outside of playoff preparation. For Nashville, the game carried a bit more weight as it could affect their playoff seeding depending on other Western Conference results, however, they too had already qualified for the playoffs. Regardless, both teams put out strong lineups with Gary Smith opting for a front-two partnership of MVP candidate Hany Mukhtar and Teal Bunbury instead of C.J. Sapong. Walker Zimmerman returned to the Banc for the first time since his $950k blockbuster trade from LAFC to Nashville in 2020, receiving deserved applause from the Black and Gold faithful as his name was announced in the Nashville starting XI. Steve Cherundolo, after stating that he would not rest players for playoffs, started a very strong team as well. Eddie Segura partnered Giorgio Chiellini at the back with Jesús Murillo suspended due to yellow card accumulation while Latif Blessing got the nod over José Cifuentes in midfield.
Match Summary
Besides the opening kickoff, Nashville didn’t get a touch of the ball for the first five minutes of the match as the Black and Gold got off to a dominant start. It was immediately clear that Nashville were happy to sit back in an eight-man low block with their natural 4-4-2 formation, looking for Mukhtar and Bunbury providing outlets on the counter, accompanied by the pace of Jacob Shaffelburg. The Yotes allowed LAFC to dominate possession this way the entire game in hopes they could defend deep while hitting LAFC on the break or a set piece, but as the Angelinos showed all game, they were able to break down the low block, creating chances time and again, the first of which came for Chicho Arango in the sixth minute as he skied it over the bar. Quickly after, Arango turned Dax McCarty and Shaq Moore, getting in behind, but as he began to dash toward goal, McCarty sinically brought him down from behind. A yellow card was shown to McCarty as the video assistant referee (VAR) took a look to determine if the offense deserved further punishment. Despite the tackle being an extremely clear red card for denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO), VAR determined Shaq Moore was close enough that the call should not be overturned. While Shaq Moore is a quick defender, who likely could have recovered in time, he was certainly not goalside of Arango when the foul was committed and therefore McCarty should have undoubtedly been sent off the pitch in the ninth minute. Nashville got away with one as it seemed they continued to do all half long with LAFC finding chance after chance without being able to finish one off. The Black and Gold recorded fifteen first-half shots, seven on target, with the biggest opportunity coming in stoppage time as Chicho Arango had his penalty saved. It was an extremely poor penalty matched by a strong right arm from Joe Willis that kept the game level into halftime.
The first-half dominance combined with LAFC being the best second-half team in the league all season made it feel like only a matter of time before the home team would find the breakthrough, but it was the Yotes who came out firing in the second half. Despite the rest of the match being controlled by LAFC, Nashville was the one making things happen in the first ten minutes of the second half. In the 53rd minute, they broke on the counterattack, finding themselves a corner that fell to Teal Bunbury at the back post where he clinically guided the ball into the roof of the net, giving Nashville a shock 1-0 lead. The Yotes game plan was working to perfection, as they looked to defend deep while finding a goal from a set piece or counter. In this instance, their counterattack led to a set-piece goal, their thirteenth of the season. After the goal, Nashville retreated into their low block, defending heavily while LAFC took shot after shot at Joe Willis., who had the game of his life. With LAFC taking another seven shots on target without finding a goal, Joe Willis ended the day on fourteen saves, equalling the all-time MLS record in a single match (tied with Zach Wells in 2005 and Aidan Heaney in 1996). It was a career day for the Nashville goalkeeper as he led them to a decision-day victory at the home of the Supporters’ Shield Champions. The win kept Nashville in 5th place in the Western Conference, setting up a first-round playoff clash with the LA Galaxy, the winner of which will head back to the Banc of California Stadium to take on LAFC in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Looking Good
Game control. The entire match, outside of ten minutes to start the second half, was completely dominated and controlled by LAFC. They dominated possession (66%), shots (30 to 12), shots on target (14 to 2), big chances (6 to 3), and essentially every other metric in the game, besides the final score. This is what the best teams do. They dictate how the game will be played, forcing the opponent to adjust. Nashville adjusted extremely well, and credit to them for finding a way to overcome this dominance to find a victory in a very difficult away match, but this is an anomaly. Generally, when a team dominates in the way LAFC did, they win the match, and probably win it easily. But generally, goalkeepers also don't make fourteen saves in a single match! Regardless, this is all the evidence necessary to prove LAFC are the top team heading into the playoffs. The Black and Gold are the team to beat. They know it. The league knows it. The question is; can they prove it?
Areas for Improvement
Finishing and finding the win. I almost feel guilty as I write this because neither finishing nor finding wins has been an issue for LAFC throughout the season. They are one of the most clinical teams in the league when it comes to finishing, while also being the highest chance-creating team in the league. Steve Cherundolo set the record for most wins ever by a first-year MLS head coach (21). These are very clearly not long-term issues, but they are the two most important things in the playoffs, and they were the issues in this match. Obviously, the team didn’t find the win and that is the only thing that matters come playoffs, but as explained above they should win games in which they perform this well, so I’ll focus on the finishing. If LAFC could’ve finished their chances, they would’ve won this game easily as they recorded 4.54 xG. This means that with the 30 shots LAFC took in the match, they would be expected to score four and a half goals based on previous similar shots. Of course, a half goal isn’t possible, but the point of expected goals (xG) is to show the quality of chances created, and whether a team is living up to the long-term average of what would be expected from those chances. In this match, they underperformed xG by nearly five goals (with even higher xG numbers resulting from certain models). To put that into perspective, that’s more underperformance compared to the xG than LAFC had in the entire season combined. While part of this was of course the world-class performance from Joe Willis, those fourteen saves were slightly stat padded by the poor finishing from LAFC, the penalty from Arango being the best example. It was the first time all season that LAFC had been shut out at home. This is something that cannot be repeated in the playoffs as it only takes one game to be sent home, but again, this hasn’t been a problem at all throughout the season and shouldn’t become one in the postseason.
Player Ratings
Crépeau: 6.5
Hollingshead: 6.5
Chiellini: 7.5
Segura: 6.5
Palacios: 7.5
Sánchez: 8
Acosta: 8
Blessing: 7
Bouanga: 8.5 (MOTM)
Arango: 6.5
Vela: 7.5
Tello: 7.5
Opoku: 6.5
Cifuentes: 7
Mendez: 7
Escobar: 6.5
