As it turns out, all LAFC needed to break out of its scoring drought was to let Minnesota score early on October 4; after the Loons scored four minutes into the match, LAFC outscored Minnesota and Austin by a combined 9-2 over the next 174 minutes. 

Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) has won its seventh postseason berth in the last six seasons, putting the team’s recent finishing woes in the past month into distant memory. Steve Cherundolo, the team’s head coach, has no cause for concern.  

A goalless streak against St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Tigres didn’t have Cherundolo worried, either. “I’m not concerned,” he said. We aren’t doing anything wrong, so stop worrying.

I wasn’t worried about Real Salt Lake before their game on October 1. The targets will be missed.

A solitary goal was enough for RSL to defeat LAFC 1-0. Say to yourself, “It’s just a phase.”

Dénis Bouanga’s shot from 15 yards out brought an end to that era, as it was less than two minutes after Minnesota’s opening goal. Three days later, when the final whistle blew in Austin, a new leader had emerged in the MLS Golden Boot competition, and LAFC had jumped to second place in the West, carrying a familiar momentum into the two-week break before its season finale in Vancouver on October 21.

Final Four Diagram

The wild Western Conference playoff picture is starting to take shape.

With a win over Vancouver Whitecaps, LAFC can lock up the second spot in the West and the first game at home in the playoffs. If LAFC can pull off the upset at BC Place, they will have home-field advantage throughout the rest of the playoffs.

The home field advantage enjoyed by LAFC might be nullified with a tie or loss in Vancouver. Thus, there is labor to be performed. Two starters (Canada’s Maxime Crepeau and Uruguay’s Cristian Olivera) and two major contributors (Croatia’s Stipe Biuk and Honduras’ Denil Maldonado) have joined their national teams, thus LAFC will have to prepare for Vancouver without them.

While the future certainly holds some degree of mystery, the club’s manager has assured fans that there is no reason to freak out in light of recent events.