MLS
David Martínez makes history with LAFC in MLS
The 18-year-old Venezuelan scored his fourth goal of the season for Los Angeles FC in Saturday’s 0- 3 victory over Sporting Kansas City.
David Martínez made another start for Los Angeles FC in the final stretch of the 2024 Major League Soccer regular season, and paid back coach Steve Cherundolo for the confidence he showed in him by getting on the scoresheet.
The teenager opened the scoring in Saturday’s 0-3 win against Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park. The visitors were awarded a penalty on 13 minutes which Denis Bouanga stepped up to take. He struck his effort straight at Tim Melia but Martínez pounced on the rebound to rifle the ball high into the net.
It was the 18-year-old Venezuelan’s fourth goal of the campaign in his 13th appearance and third start.
Martínez milestone
With his strike against Kansas City, Martínez becomes the first player of 18 years of age or younger to register at least five goal contributions for LAFC in one single season.
The Venezuelan supplied an assist to Cristian Olivera in the 5-0 home win against Nashville SC in Week 5 and has scored four goals himself - against Colorado Rapids in Week 5, against Austin FC in Week 32, Cincinnati in Week 34 and Sporting Kansas City last night.
Steve Cherundolo expects more from the offense
LAFC remain second in the Western Conference with 58 points and with two regular season games remaining. The team’s aim from this point on is to stay in the top part of the standings so that they will have home advantage in the upcoming 2024 MLS Cup playoffs.
While happy with Saturday’s win, LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo says there is room for improvement. “We didn’t match up a lot. I think our attacks were geared towards scoring and we could have scored more goals. Some attacks in the first half were lacking quality and concentration. There were times when we struggled a lot with possession and playmaking, especially in the first half,” he told reporters after the game.
MLS - Liga USA 2024
| Classification | PTS | WM | TM | LM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Los Angeles Galaxy | 62 | 18 | 8 | 7 |
| 2Los Angeles FC | 58 | 17 | 7 | 8 |
| 3Seattle Sounders | 56 | 16 | 8 | 9 |
| Upcoming matches | |
|---|---|
| Vancouver Whitecaps - Los Angeles FC | S-13/10 19:30 |
| Los Angeles FC - San José Earthquakes | S-19/10 21:00 |
*Data updated to date Oct 6th, 2024
“We’re happy because these are important points for us,” the coach continued. “The most important thing is to have a healthy team and to have players who are coming back. We will have a few days off before facing Vancouver, so we will have to face that game without the players called up for the FIFA date.”
The LAFC coach was also asked about Carlos Vela’s status and simply said that he doesn’t know when he will be ready. According to what AS USA Latino was able to learn from consulting an LAFC official, the Mexican will probably not play in the playoffs due to his lack of match fitness after being inactive for nine months.
LAFC’s next game is the rescheduled Week 29 fixture against Vancouver next Sunday. They conclude the regular season against the San Jose Earthquakes the following Saturday.
While mathematically it is still possible for Cherundolo’s team to knock LA Galaxy off the top of the Western Conference, it would take a small miracle for that to happen. LA Galaxy are six points clear with two games to play and have won more games than LAFC (19 to LAFC’s 17), which means they would have to lose both of their remaining games (against Austin and Houston); at the same time, LAFC would need to win theirs and gain a better goal difference - at the moment LA Galaxy’s is +20 and LAFC’s +17.