Week 2 of the Major League Soccer regular season includes the season and home opener for defending MLS Cup champion Los Angeles FC, who host the Portland Timbers on Saturday afternoon at BMO Stadium.
LAFC’s season gets started a week late thanks to a postponement of its match against Southern California rival LA Galaxy due to what was then announced as the possibility of severe weather in the normally sunny and pleasant part of the country. The game was to be held at the famous Rose Bowl in nearby Pasadena.
“El Trafico,” as the rivalry is nicknamed, has been moved to July 4, and now LAFC will take the pitch at home in what should be cool but dry conditions against the Timbers (1-0-0, 3 points).
Before Saturday’s match, there is a banner to raise to commemorate LAFC’s first league title and championship rings to be handed out to last season’s players.
The question is whether LAFC has the roster to repeat as champion. Denis Bouanga and Jose Cifuentes are among the returnees, but gone to Liga MX is 2022 leading goal scorer Chicho Arango, and gone to retirement is Gareth Bale, the Welsh star. Those are two of the big names who aren’t back with LAFC in 2023.
“We wanted to keep everybody … we really loved that group and the success we had together,” LAFC general manager John Thorrington told the L.A. Daily News. “Once we realized that was not possible, we had to prioritize and that’s what we did.”
The Timbers are coming off a 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City on Monday at home. Juan Mosquera scored the only goal of the game early on.
“For me it was a great feeling to be able to help the team, because of course with the goal we were able to get the first three points of the year,” Mosquera said through a translator. “So I just hope to keep going that way, and to me the most important thing is to be able to help the team.”
If Portland scores at BMO Stadium, according to the team website, it will record its longest scoring streak in MLS. The Timbers are at 21 straight matches with a goal, the franchise’s longest streak since a run of 21 matches from June 3, 2017 to Oct. 22, 2017.
–Field Level Media
