Los Angelesvs.NY City

A late goal on matchday one last week lifted the Black and Gold to a 1-0 triumph over Minnesota United, while the Pigeons conceded in the latter stages of their 2-2 draw at Inter Miami.

Match preview

It was a frustrating opening hour of play for LAFC in their opener but to their credit they adjusted on the fly and found a way to pull out a narrow victory.

In typical Steve Cherundolo fashion, they won by just a single goal, just as they did nine times in this competition a year ago.

Dating back to the previous campaign, the Black and Gold are now unbeaten in four consecutive regular-season home games, two of which were by a 1-0 score.

On Saturday, they can win their first two matches of an MLS campaign for the first time since 2023, finishing that season as runners-up.

Last season they won 11 times at BMO Stadium and suffered just two home defeats, the second fewest in the Western Conference behind their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Galaxy (one).

LA claimed at least a point in two of their three domestic home games against Eastern Conference opposition in 2024, though only one of those meeting ended in a victory for them in March versus Nashville SC (5-0).

Having a man advantage for over an hour against the reigning Supporters' Shield winners, it seemed as though everything was going the way of New York City FC last week.

Instead, they failed to close the deal, conceding an equaliser in the 10th minute of stoppage time, as they failed to win their opening regular season fixture for a seventh successive occasion.

The Boys in Blue dropped points in nine of their final 10 regular-season affairs away from home last year, suffering a 2-0 defeat at CF Montreal on Decision Day 2024.

Pascal Jansen has yet to lose a match away from home since taking charge, winning three of their four pre-season contests this year as the visitors.

In their four MLS matches played in March a season ago, New York City wound up on the losing end three times, failing to score in their two away outings.

NYCFC have never lost a regular-season game against LAFC, winning their previous visit to BMO Stadium 2-1 in 2021, thanks to two goals in the final 20 minutes.

Los Angeles FC Major League Soccer form:

Los Angeles FC form (all competitions):

New York City FC Major League Soccer form:

Team News

On matchday one, LA were without Maxime Chanot due to a head injury, Lorenzo Dellavalle was sidelined with a sore thigh and Odin Holm was unavailable because of an ankle problem.

Jeremy Ebobisse had the only goal in their MLS opener, 12 minutes from the end, as he, Mark Delgado, Igor Jesus, Nkosi Tafari and Yaw Yeboah each played their first matches for LAFC in the regular season.

As for New York City, Thiago Martins, Malachi Jones and Tayvon Gray all missed their season opener against the Herons with leg injuries, while Santiago Rodriguez left to join Brazilian side Botafogo.

Mitja Ilenic levelled their match with Miami a few minutes before the half-hour mark, while Alonso Martinez also netted his first of the new campaign 10 minutes into the second half.

Los Angeles FC possible starting lineup:

Lloris; Palencia, Marlon, Long, Segura; Delgado, Jesus, Yeboah; D. Martinez, Giroud, Bouanga

New York City FC possible starting lineup:

Freese; Ilenic, Tanasijevic, Risa, O'Toole; Parks, Perea; Wolf, Moralez, Ojeda; A. Martinez

We say: Los Angeles FC 1-0 New York City FC

The Black and Gold have learned how to win these close games, and the same cannot be said about the Pigeons in some of their narrow encounters.

Written by

Joel Lefevre

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