{"id":37770,"date":"2021-10-05T18:37:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T22:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/?p=37770"},"modified":"2021-10-05T18:37:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T22:37:00","slug":"el-trafico-ends-draw-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2021\/10\/05\/el-trafico-ends-draw-los-angeles\/","title":{"rendered":"El Trafico ends in draw for Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Los Angeles clubs <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2021\/10\/04\/mls-rundown-october-3-2021\/\" target=\"_self\">played to a 1-1 tie<\/a> in El Trafico Sunday afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The stalemate put a damper on a day of celebration where the Galaxy unveiled club legend Landon Donovan\u2019s statue, but could not reward him or their fans with a win.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">THE GREATEST AMERICAN SOCCER PLAYER OF ALL TIME. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LAGalaxy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#LAGalaxy<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LandonDonovan?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#LandonDonovan<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ROsdpueEtJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ROsdpueEtJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; LA Soccer Hub (@LASoccerHub) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LASoccerHub\/status\/1444799265193091073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 3, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">was <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">typically El Trafico though; which meant high drama on the field.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As has become something of a habit, the Galaxy was forced to come from behind again after falling behind to a set-piece goal in the 11th minute.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Galaxy response was swift, with Samuel Grandsir tying the game on 19 minutes for his third goal this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Frenchman has become one of the Galaxy\u2019s most reliable performers, being the only player that has appeared in every match for the club this year. He was a constant threat on the left flank and was rewarded for his work with a well-taken goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He took advantage of an inch-perfect Victor Vazquez pass, Vazquez\u2019s fourth assist of the season, to round LAFC keeper Jamal Blackman and fire home in front of the Angel City Brigade.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">What a finish, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SamuelGrandsir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@SamuelGrandsir<\/a>  \ud83d\ude4c <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XOigHQ6GCl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/XOigHQ6GCl<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LAGalaxy\/status\/1444849585155817474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 4, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two goals in the first 19 minutes promised more from the LA clubs, but although there weren\u2019t goals, there was plenty of action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What followed was a chippy but exciting match.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both teams hit the woodwork, the Galaxy twice, and went at each other in an open-ended game until the final whistle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yellow cards went out like Facebook did today, and LAFC was extremely lucky not to have a man sent off and a penalty awarded against them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But when it was over, neither team could win all three points and Los Angeles bragging rights.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The tie ensures the Galaxy won\u2019t lose to their city rivals this year unless they somehow meet in the playoffs though.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unfortunately, it also means the Galaxy hasn\u2019t won since the 1-0 victory away at Minnesota on August 4th and has slipped in the table to sixth place.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>&#8220;Every game a final&#8230; again.&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vazquez acknowledged the team\u2019s present situation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNow we have a break on. We have six games left that it&#8217;s six finals. It&#8217;s still on us because we are we are still in the playoffs, but everything is more tight,\u201d the Spaniard explained.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now winless in nine, however, the Galaxy is running out of time to pick up points and even further away from a home game in the opening round of the playoffs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hopefully, the coming international break Vazquez mentioned will allow the Galaxy to regroup.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With a massive game against Portland, the Galaxy play possibly their most important match of the season next.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Success means they\u2019ll have momentum heading into the season\u2019s final stretch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A win will also surely set off the celebrations that should have happened at Sunday\u2019s Donovan statue unveiling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Three Key Takeaways:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Samuel Grandsir makes his case: <\/b>Grandsir scored his third goal of the season and was dangerous throughout. More importantly, he has become the most consistent name on the team sheet and someone Vanney can count on.<\/p>\n<p><b>Another El Trafico tie:\u00a0<\/b>This game has so much tension attached, that it seldom lives up to the billing. This one wasn&#8217;t that. With yellow cards, penalty shouts, and shots that hit the post galore, this is one El Trafico that lived up to the hype.<\/p>\n<p><b>Playoff Push:\u00a0<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lagalaxy.com\/schedule\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Six games left<\/a> means that Galaxy fans are getting nervous. The players have said that each game is a final; with the Western Conference so tightly packed together, any dropped points now mean potentially missing the postseason.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit:<br \/>\n<a id=\"6lUiMgWnSV57OiOLXY142Q\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1235683704\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'6lUiMgWnSV57OiOLXY142Q',sig:'dnScclVEsHNbl23zp4gIqyik6BmGkYvPToRcTXZVM6E=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1235683704',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles clubs played to a 1-1 tie in El Trafico Sunday afternoon. The stalemate put a damper on a day of celebration where the Galaxy unveiled club legend Landon Donovan\u2019s statue, but could not reward him or their fans with a win. THE GREATEST AMERICAN SOCCER PLAYER OF ALL TIME. #LAGalaxy #LandonDonovan pic.twitter.com\/ROsdpueEtJ [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3969,"featured_media":37782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,1444],"tags":[4580,1842,4581,4579,231,4454,1200],"class_list":["post-37770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-galaxy","category-lafc","tag-angel-city-brigade","tag-el-trafico","tag-facebook","tag-jamal-blackman","tag-landon-donovan","tag-samuel-grandsir","tag-victor-vazquez"],"modified_by":"Daniel Sperry, Staff Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3969"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}