Vintage Vela performance lifts LAFC over cross-town rivals

MLS has many great rivalries, but there's just something special about Los Angeles.

With the hungry, undefeated upstarts of LAFC on one side and the fading, yet-to-win legends of the LA Galaxy on the other, LA's cross-city game--known colloquially as El Tráfico--carries real narrative heft. Winning it can light up a great season and turn around a bad one. It's always tense and always close, regardless of where the teams are in the Western Conference standings. "There are always great matchups between city rivals," LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo told the press before the match. "It's always competitive. We will always see the best of the Galaxy."

Today's tráfico, between a high-flying LAFC and a gutter-scraping Galaxy, was indeed competitive--though it finished 3-2 to LAFC, all of the momentum was with their rivals by the end. Cherundolo and his team will leave content with the three points, but the Galaxy and coach Greg Vanney will take away plenty of positives too. If this was the best of the Galaxy, all is certainly not lost for them yet.

The match started with extended periods of Galaxy possession and attack. The return of striker Chicharito made an immediate difference for them; while previous sub Joveljić preferred to sink deep into midfield, Chicharito ran forward with abandon from the very first whistle. His influence stretched the Galaxy vertically more than they've been stretched all season, and it gave midfielder Riqui Puig the space he needed to dictate the game from midfield.

Enter Carlos Vela, the scorer of more tráfico goals than anyone on Earth. He and his LAFC teammates were content to give the Galaxy possession, so long as they could snatch the ball back for quick, deadly offensive sprints in turn. They did just that in the 22nd minute and Vela curled a gorgeous left-footed shot into the top corner from range. It was against the run of play, but it was quintessential LAFC: they're a team that only needs one chance to hammer home a point.