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Ex LAFC player Chicho Arango and Real Salt Lake dismantled LAFC 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in America First Field under inclement weather. While RSL looked comfortable in extreme conditions, LAFC looked like a shell of themselves.
LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo did not shy away from his personal feelings on the game being played in icy conditions.
“It was an absolute joke we had to play today,” said Cherundolo in a postgame press conference. “It was one of the worst professional sporting events I’ve ever seen in my life. I feel terrible for the players that we put them through this. The game could have and should have been called (off). In my opinion, it was an absolute disgrace we had to play today.”
Kick off was slated at 11 am PT, however the game was delayed by two hours due to lighting strikes in the area. Once things got settled, the game resumed but was delayed in the fourth minute due to lighting. The lighting finally stopped and the game resumed as it heavily snowed. It didn’t take long for the pitch to be completely white resembling a hockey rink.
“I had a conversation with Steve and the referees before the game,” RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. “At that point, we were all on the same page. Then once you decide to start a game, when it’s snowing, there’s very little you can do. As the game wore on, it became less like a soccer match and it wasn’t desirable conditions for either team. But when we started it, it was like ‘let’s just get this over with.’”
Colombian international winger Andrés Gómez opened the game in the 18th minute in a one on one against the legendary French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. In the 41th minute, Gómez was left unmarked inside the box and smashed the ball in the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
Gómez had himself an impressive performance, last season he notched two goals in 30 appearances and in just the second game of the season he netted two goals in the first half.
“[Last year], Gómez was a player that would score four or five goals in training, and it wouldn't translate to the game,” said Mastroeni of the 21-year-old winger who’s now doubled his goal total from 2023.
“And it takes a game like this to build that belief that when he's in front of goal, he is going to score."
As the snow intensified so did the RSL’s attack; Arango extended the lead 3-0 before the half in the 50th minute of stoppage time. Arango’s snow angel celebration will go down as one of the best celebrations in the early portion of the 2024 season.
“I just don’t understand why on earth we’d count a game like that, finish a game like that or even play a game like that,” Cherundolo said.
LAFC being from sunny Los Angeles where it hardly rains, looked extremely uncomfortable. Most players have never played in snow and it was evident in their defensive transitions. The visitors struggled to push the ball forward while newly acquired Mexican defender Omar Campos was slipping and sliding for the majority of the match. The match was difficult to watch through the Apple TV telecast.
Cherundolo ended the press conference by admitting that he didn’t watch the game in the last 20 minutes: “You couldn't see anything. I think I threw more snowballs at [assistant coach] Ante [Razov] than I did watch the game.”
Goals:
Real Salt Lake: Gómez 18', 41', Arango 45+5'