Impact lacked bite in second half against LAFC
By now, we’re all familiar with Saturday’s scenario. The Impact, heading into the locker room with a two-goal cushion but a man down, conceded four unanswered goals in the second half to eventually lose the game against expansion team LAFC 5-3, despite outplaying its opponent in the opening 45.
Playing a man down is never ideal, especially when that man is a center-back, but the Impact’s players knew they had more to give than what they left on the field after the break on Saturday.
“I think we have the technical ability, we have the players, we have the fitness,” said defender Chris Duvall. “But having bite, having grit, having fight, that’s the mentality we needed in the second half. In games when you go down a man early, you need to have the mentality that nothing will go through you. That’s all mental. We let ourselves down in a really big moment and it cost us.”
The Impact’s Víctor Cabrera was harshly served a red card in the 31st minute after a little bit of contact in the box, but Bush’s subsequent save off the penalty kept the score at 2-1. Nacho Piatti would even complete the hat-trick, his first in MLS, late in the first half to give his team a two-goal cushion. Despite the ejection, things were looking good for the Impact heading into the second.
“These are situations we need to handle better,” said midfielder Saphir Taïder. “It isn’t easy to play a man down, but it isn’t an excuse either. Little details made us lose the game. We’ll work on things this week with the coach, but mentally, we need to make the effort to stay focused for 90 minutes, and not lose games that, normally, we should win.”
Evan Bush saw it all unfold in front of his eyes. Despite making 14 saves, a club record, including one off a penalty, the Impact was unable to cope defensively, and LAFC profited fully from its man advantage in the second half.
“One thing we didn’t do well enough collectively, in a red card situation, is get together and lockdown, and say that it’s ok if we don’t score again, but we’re going to be animals in defending,” said Bush. “Moving forward, we’ll look at it and try to adjust, but at the end of the day, we weren’t alert or tenacious enough.”
The Impact will have to be alert and tenacious against one of the hottest attacks in the league, next Saturday at 1pm, for its game against Atlanta United FC (TVA Sports, 98,5fm, TSN Radio 690), a team that has already scored 17 goals this season.
“We need to keep our heads high because we have a game against a very good team this weekend,” added Taïder. “I can’t think of a better answer than going there and winning.”
