Los Angeles Football Club’s rain-soaked 4-2 victory over the Houston Dynamo last Friday was one of the expansion team’s most memorable home games of their inaugural season. Mother Nature weeded out the casual fans with a nearly two-hour rain delay, and for the supporters who remained, LAFC proceeded to put on a show.
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Carlos Vela earned MLS Player of the Week honors with his most inspired performance since returning from the World Cup. He played a role in every goal, finishing with a brace and two assists, but he wasn’t the only one producing in LAFC’s attack.
Adama Diomande scored off a nifty Vela cross for his third goal in two games. Vela’s second goal should have been his third assist. He played a ball to Diego Rossi with only Houston goalkeeper Tyler Deric to beat, but a poor touch allowed Deric to send the ball away. It rolled to Vela, whose chip volley sealed the win.
The dominating display was just the latest example of how dangerous Vela, Diomande and Rossi can be when they’re on the field together. Over the last four matches, a stretch dating back to a 2-0 home win over San Jose on Sept. 22, they have enjoyed the most time together all season. Not coincidentally, LAFC has won all four games to clinch a MLS Cup playoff spot and put itself in contention for a first-round bye.
The trio has the potential to be one of the most potent attacking units in the postseason.
“It’s important for us to be in the playoffs, but we still have a few more [regular-season] games,” Rossi said after LAFC’s 3-0 victory in Colorado on Oct. 6. “It’s important for us to continue to play the way we played today until the end.”
Diomande and Vela are healthy and available for the first time all season. Acquired during the first transfer window, Diomande made his debut in March but missed time due to injury. Vela, LAFC’s first designated player signing, missed time on multiple stints of international duty with Mexico leading up to and during the 2018 World Cup. Those responsibilities have limited him to 26 matches (24 starts).
Despite the missed time, Vela (13 goals), Diomande (12) and Rossi (10) have helped power LAFC to 65 goals through 32 league matches. The Black and Gold have an outside chance to become the first MLS expansion team to score 70 goals in its first season, needing five in the last two games against Vancouver and Sporting Kansas City.
Reaching that figure would be a strong statement going into the playoffs.
“When I first arrived, I played 10 minutes with Carlos and then he left for the World Cup,” Diomande said. “I started bagging goals, he came back, we played a couple matches together, then I got injured. Now is the first time I feel we are getting the right connection.
“I feel he’s better playing behind the striker rather than wide, so that he can have more freedom to roam the middle as well as both sides. He’s such a clever player. We just keep talking and working. We’re on the right track.”
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No player in MLS history enjoyed a more productive scoring binge to begin his league account than Diomande, who racked up seven goals in his first nine matches. But that honeymoon ended abruptly. After a brace in a 4-1 victory over the maligned Orlando City defense, his production took a nosedive.
Diomande managed just one assist in the next four games, suffering a left hamstring injury in a 2-1 road loss to the New York Red Bulls on August 5. The Norwegian played just 28 minutes over the next six matches as Vela once again became the focal point of the LAFC attack.
Learning to play alongside Vela and Rossi wasn’t an easy adjustment for Diomande, who operated as a lone striker while Vela was with Mexico.
“Right now, I feel that I’m more in the group since I’ve been here longer and I better understand what Bob wants from me,” Diomande told The Athletic. “The physical transition has been the most difficult for me.
“But I feel that now I have the confidence in my all-around game, in my ability to win the ball and look for my teammates before I look for the goal but still put a strong strike behind the ball if I decide to go for the net. That’s different from when I first arrived.”
Diomande’s exploits in his last three games — three goals on five shots — have impressed head coach Bob Bradley even more than the striker’s early scoring run.
“There was a period when he first got here when I thought it was great he was getting goals but that his overall game wasn’t that sharp. His last two matches have been strong all-around performances,” Bradley said of Diomande. “As he returned to regular training in recent weeks, Dio’s understanding with the attackers has gotten a lot stronger. That’s what leads to chances and goals.”
Vela endured his own transition period. He produced no goals in the first three matches Diomande played after returning from injury, but he did manage 10 shots (five on target).
“We missed a lot of games playing together because I was in the World Cup, but now we’re starting to get good chemistry together,” Vela said after the win over Houston. “Every game, we get better and I hope we’re ready for the playoffs.”
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The firepower of LAFC’s front three has been on full display the last two matches. In addition to Diomande’s three goals, Vela has scored twice from seven shots and Rossi has amassed three goals on nine shots.
Look for the threesome to continue to work on their interplay in the remaining weeks of the regular season. With Vela (12 assists this season) and Rossi (nine assists), they are always a threat to send the final pass in from the wing to generate scoring chances.
The individual talent among them is unquestioned. But collectively, they want to become even more dangerous in attack.
“It’s not all about goals. A striker needs to score goals — that’s my mentality — but I also feel like I need to give back to the young squad we have here in Rossi, Latif (Blessing), (Aaron) Kovar,” Diomande said. “They are younger than me, they look to me, so that makes me want to help them score goals and be better players as well. I’m happy that I’m contributing.”
LAFC’s three-headed monster is one giant headache for opponents, but it’s not the only source of offense. The team can also rely on the energy and work rate of Blessing (five goals, six assists) and Marco Ureña (one goal, five assists) and the direct play of Christian Ramirez (two goals in seven games, three starts).
Bradley has confidence in his reserve forwards, Ureña and Ramirez. “If a situation in a match calls for one of them to be on the field, I trust both,” he said.
The final matches of the season were essential for establishing playoff positioning. Building chemistry was also crucial if LAFC wanted any kind of staying power in the postseason, where goals are much harder to come by.
Clearly, LAFC has developed something special up front with Vela, Diomande and Rossi.
“At the end of the year, all you can ask of anyone is to be on board with each other, to see the bigger picture and be ready for the team when their name is called,” Bradley said. “I think they’ve done that.”
Top photo of Diego Rossi, Carlos Vela and Adama Diomande by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images