LAFC fell to St. Louis CITY SC 2-1 on Wednesday night at Energizer Park in St. Louis, Missouri. LAFC moves to 6W-4L-3D on the season while St. Louis improves to 3W-6L-3D.
St. Louis scored first, with fullback Tomas Totland finishing an end-to-end build-up to put the hosts ahead 1-0 in the fourth minute. In the 44th minute a cutback on the endline from LAFC forward Denis Bouanga found fullback Ryan Raposo near the penalty spot, but Raposo’s volley went over the bar, keeping the score 1-0 at half.
St. Louis added to its lead in the 64th minute when Rafael Santos finished a loose ball near the area to put the home side up 2-0. Second-half substitute David MartÃnez pulled one back for LAFC in the 73rd minute, running onto a long pass from Nkosi Tafari and lofting it over the head of St. Louis keeper Roman Bürki and into the net to pull LAFC within 2-1. It was MartÃnez's fourth goal of the year in the regular season and his eighth in all competitions.
Bürki made a world-class save of an Aaron Long deflection at close range in the 81st minute to preserve St. Louis’ first ever win over LAFC in their eighth all-time meeting.
Next up for LAFC is another road match, this one against Eastern Conference leaders Nashville SC at GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday, May 17. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. PT. All MLS matches are broadcast live on Apple TV, with local radio coverage available on ESPN LA 710 AM, the ESPN LA app, KFWB La Mera Mera 980 AM (Spanish), and K-Radio 1230 AM (Korean).
