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Los Angeles FC made club history on Sunday, after winning 3-0 against Austin FC booked the team’s first trip to an MLS Cup final.

The game provided an excellent showcase for two of the league’s young head coaches, as first-year manager Steve Cherundolo got the upper hand over former USMNT teammate Josh Wolff to claim Western Conference supremacy.

While the game was poised on a razor’s edge early in the first half, Denis Bouanga almost broke through in the 27th minute. He was able to round the Austin keeper Brad Stoverbut Austin’s defender Julio Cascante kept pace with the speedy striker to limit LAFC to a corner kick.

However, a perfect ball from Carlos Vela found MVP finalist Chicho Arango with space for a header as Austin forward Moussa Djitte was on the wrong side of Arango and could only hopelessly swing a leg towards the ball. Arango’s header thundered into the back of the net, giving the hosts the lead.

While LAFC was unable to convert a resulting free kick on one occasion, there was a scary moment five minutes after the goal. The cleared free kick went towards midfield, towards LAFC Diego Palacioswho received a hard shoulder to the chest from Austin’s designated player Emiljano Rigoni. The Ecuadorian left-back underwent a brain scan and was cleared to return to the game. He is one of three World Cup hopefuls from the South American nation, along with midfielders Sebas Méndez and Jose Cifuenteswho ESPN commentator Taylor Twellman suggested could make a move to a Premier League club this winter during the opening minutes of the match.

The Supporters’ Shield winners kept the pressure on until half-time, but Stuver was able to make a trio of crucial saves to keep the game within a goal going into the break. LAFC had dominated the opening 45, putting six of their 16 first-half shots on goal with four more efforts blocked by Austin defenders. That the Verde were able to bend but not break was a feat given the hosts’ top form as LAFC topped the expected goal tally by a 1.6 to 0 margin.

Los Angeles made the only change of the first half, making a substitution Giorgio Chiellini ABOUT Sebastien Ibeagha. The long-time Italy captain was taking his right calf off the bench as he was typically regular defensively while helping LAFC retain possession in the defensive third. However, Twellman reported that an LAFC spokesman played it down to a tactical choice, suggesting that Chiellini should not be a serious injury concern for the MLS Cup next weekend.

Austin tried to take advantage of the change and took the initiative out of the gates, winning a pair of early corners and keeping the pressure on LAFC. The hosts eventually woke up, as the right back Ryan Hollingshead almost increased the lead in the 57th minute with a powerful shot in the box, which was deflected by Stuver. Eventually, Los Angeles doubled the advantage as Vela sent a corner kick towards Maxi Urruti, who tried to get out of the way but instead headed it at the far post beyond the reach of Stuver.

Austin almost had a way back, like Diego Fagundez had his foot stepped on by Ibeagha on the edge of the box. While it appeared to be a foul worthy of a penalty, a VAR review resulted in Armando Villarreal deciding it wasn’t worth the reversal. One would think that the argument was either that it wasn’t a clear and obvious foul, or the fact that Fagúndez was on his way out of the box ruled it out as a scoring occasion.

From there, LAFC worked to put the game on ice. Vela came out with great fanfare in the 75th minute, while Maxime Crepeau made his first save of the night with a header in the 80th. Kwadwo Opoku scored the third goal in the 82nd minute, neatly finishing a wild dive over the Austin backline from a midfield tackle by Fagúndez. Bouanga thought he stretched it to four deep in stoppage time but Opoku was ruled offside in the contest.

The result will leave an Austin pair that has become synonymous with rolling lamenting how long it took to get into the game. As was the case in the comeback win against The real Salt Lake in the first round, Djitte and Rigoni failed to live up to the expectations that come from being a U22 initiative signing and a designated player, respectively. Finalist MVP Sebastian Driussi ably contained by Kellyn Acostawhich left the visitors without much of an attacking threat until the marquee duo were replaced by Ethan Finlay and Urruti in the 60th minute. Getting the most out of the pair will surely be at the top of Wolff’s off-season to-do list, along with strengthening the defense ahead of Stuver.

LAFC will host the final next weekend at Banc of California Stadium, making the event a Hollywood matinee with a 1pm PT kickoff.

(Photo: Kelvin Kuo / USA Today)



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