A pair of 1-nil losses in five days has the Los Angeles Football Club seemingly on the brink as they host Portland on Saturday at BMO Stadium.
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Short-staffed and overworked, LAFC has struggled in August.
After blasting out of the World Cup break July 17 with the first of three MLS wins in nine days by a combined score of 10-1, through six games in 19 days this month, including Wednesday’s own-goal defeat at Colorado that piggybacked a disappointment at home versus San Diego, LAFC found of the back of the net four times, conceded five, and averaged a point per match while winning once.
“I don’t want to see this as a big alarming thing,” LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos said. “It’s two losses by one goal that we could have had points in both. And it’s little details. If you look at the type of goal we conceded against San Diego, a penalty where it was pretty soft from us to give it away, and now [against Colorado] this wide free kick that we could have done much better in the front area. It’s details like that. So we have to be better at it and I hope and I believe that we’re going to answer well against Portland.”
When LAFC clashed with the Timbers in April at Providence Park, Dos Santos’ group carried a franchise record 11-game unbeaten streak in all competitions (9-0-2).
Thanks to a defensive effort that hadn’t let in a goal during league play, LAFC (10-7-4, 34 points) socked away 16 of 18 points before the spring trip to the Pacific Northwest.
Sandwiched between the CONCACAF Champions Cup two-leg quarterfinal against Cruz Azul, Dos Santos opted to rotate, going so far as to leave goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and forward Son Heung-min at home against an opponent that was 1-4-1 in the league at the time.
Making seven changes to a starting XI that was heavily leaned on throughout the early part of the season, LAFC fell in the dying seconds of the 96-minute match when Portland’s leading scorer, Venezuelan U22 Initiative signing Kevin Kelsy, ended the unbeaten streak with a headed game-winner from the doorstep.
Because Lloris’s backup Thomas Hasal was injured half an hour into the game, Kelsy’s finish beat goalkeeper Cabral Carter to spoil what would have been considered a strong MLS debut for the Loyola High product of the Class of 2022.
Part of the LAFC academy since the age of 11, Carter’s surprise entry – a sink-or-swim moment that can’t be prepared for, he said – coincided with his first appearance on an MLS game-day squad.
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Four months later, with Hasal out injured again and Lloris resting on the bench during another busy stretch of games, Carter started Wednesday against the Rapids.
Wednesday’s loss certainly wasn’t a byproduct of Carter’s performance, which was decided by a deflected own-goal off forward Jeremy Ebobisse.
“Disappointed in how unlucky the goal we conceded was, and unlucky not to get a point or a win, but proud of being able to make a very long journey, a longtime dream come true,” said Carter, who made a terrific save to deny a penalty at the end of the first half that gave his scuffling teammates a chance to hang around until the final whistle.
Training regularly alongside Lloris, Carter, who attended the BMO Stadium groundbreaking in 2016, described the French icon as a 10/10 person and player.
Lloris is “just so smart,” Carter said. “His attention to detail. His consistency. His ability to make the hard things look easy super consistently is something I’ve tried to learn from him.”
When LAFC’s regular-season series with the Timbers concludes Saturday, Lloris, the MLS leader with 10 clean sheets in 2026, is expected to return to the lineup.
Beginning with the defeat to Portland in the spring, LAFC has 18 points in its last 15 league games. Dos Santos’ side is 10-7-4 inside MLS, good for third in the Western Conference behind Houston and Vancouver.
Ninth-place Portland (8-9-3, 27 points) beat San Diego 3-1 in its last outing and is 5-2-1 in all competitions since 44-year-old Spanish head coach Martí Cifuentes took over July 21.
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PORTLAND (8-9-3, 27 points) at LAFC (10-7-4, 34 points)
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: BMO Stadium
TV/Radio: Apple TV/710 AM, 980 AM, 1230 AM