Diego Rossi Scores Four Goals, LAFC’s Magnificent Second Half Trashes Galaxy, 6-2

LAFC is the winner of the first El Trafico this year, as they demolished LA Galaxy, 6-2 with Diego Rossi netting four times, becoming the absolute hero of this event.

It was a wonderful display of the 22-year old Uruguayan who became the pivotal point of FC’s offense in Carlos Vela’s absence.

“I feel really good,” Rossi said. “Obviously, I’m happy with my goals, but I am more happy about the result and the attitude of the team.”

He would score an equalizer in the 13th minute for 1-1, then add one more in the stoppage time of the first period, netting two more in the second half. One came in the 75th minute, and the closure of his show in the second minute of the injury time.

He became the only player in the LAFC history who scored four in one game, and the 13th in the MLS history. But this is not all. The Uruguayan managed to record an assist, as he set up a goal to Bradley right-Philips, meaning that his involvement led to five goals. He managed to do this twice in his career, becoming the sole player with such an achievement.

Coach Bob Bradley was also amazed by the way his starter obliterated the big rivals, but he didn’t want to spend too much time talking about it.

“Diego is in great form,” Bradley said. “This is fun to watch.”

Galaxy reached the lead first with Latif Blessing scoring an own goal in the fifth minute of the match. Sebastian Lletget sent the ball which hit Blessing and went past LAFC’s goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega.

Until the half, the nominal guests took the lead once more, with Cristian Pavon’s penalty kick conversion. At that moment, the FC was fighting for its life, as they looked pretty pale on the pitch and without some particular edge they could use.

Diego Rossi of Los Angeles FC #LAFC scored 4 goals in the 6-2 win vs LA Galaxy, the 13th player in #MLS history to score that many.
Rossi added an assist, the 8th time a player was involved in a record 5 goals in a game — Rossi is the first ever to do it twice#MLSisBack

— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) July 19, 2020

However, it seems that Rossi’s stoppage-time goal boosted Bradley’s boys, and after that, they would roll over the Galaxy in the second half. Mohamed El-Monir and Right-Phillips added one more goal each,  making the path clear for Rossi to knockout the opponents.

“We can’t give up before time, and that’s what happened, and that’s what generated a heap of spaces in our defense,” said Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Galaxy’s head coach.

He had one big problem before this match, and that was Chicharito’s injury. The Mexican not only missed this event but will have to spend up to one month to recover.

“Chicharito had a problem in training,” he said. “It’s an injury that will need three or four weeks to recover from. We’ll see. It was in Thursday’s training.”

The lack of will and motivation was apparent in the second 45 minutes and no doubt Galaxy will have to avoid these types of blackouts in the future if they want to earn at least one win and enter the rankings of the third-placed teams. After that, they would need several other results to come together to see them in the round of 16 of the MLS is Back tournament.

Up next, Galaxy faces Houston Dynamo, who has one point, meaning that Schelotto’s guys need to win here. Dynamo posed a draw against the FC in the opener 3-3, and after that, lost to Portland Timbers 1-2.

The game is set for Thursday at 8 pm ET. On the other side, LAFC clashes with Timbers on the same day at 10:30 pm ET.