LAFC slip up again after defeat in Charlotte

The Black & Gold were punished by the side from North Carolina and now trail St. Louis by four points in the Western Conference.

Diego Mayel Ibarradiegoibarra21Paul Reidypaulreidy67Estados UnidosUpdate: Aug 27th, 2023 03:58 EDT

Aug 26, 2023; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY SportsJim DedmonUSA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

Los Angeles FC were back in MLS action on Saturday night at the Black and Gold looked to put their Leagues Cup defeat at the hands of Monterrey behind them.

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The trip to the Bank of America Stadium for the game against Charlotte FC turned out to be another disappointment and was a dent in the side from LA’s quest to stay in contention for first place in the Western Conference as Cherundolo’s men fell to their seventh MLS loss of the season.

DUB CITYYYYY!!! 👑 #ForTheCrown pic.twitter.com/V9lKPdRIAd

— Charlotte FC (@CharlotteFC) August 27, 2023

One of the positives of the night for the Black and Gold was that leaders St. Louis City SC also lost on their visit to Orlando City (2-1), which sees Steve Cherundolo’s team stay in second place after Houston Dynamo beat Real Salt Lake (0-3) in a match that was delayed due to bad weather in Utah.

Gee whillikers Westy 🤌 pic.twitter.com/f5MYaQ7tuZ

— Charlotte FC (@CharlotteFC) August 27, 2023

Carlos Vela plays for an hour

The captain of the Black & Gold played 63 minutes before being replaced by Uruguayan Cristian Olivera, who already managed to score on his LAFC debut. Vela delivered a discreet performance and never really threatened the Charlotte goal.

Denis Bouanga however was a constant threat for LAFC with the striker disappointed to see a first half goal chalked off for offside but it was his assist that set up new signing Mario González who skipped past Kristijan Kahlina to tie the game in the 67th minute.

Mario, 1-Up. 🍄Watch live on #MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/WtLl4B5V91 pic.twitter.com/FSCHrFEzot

— LAFC (@LAFC) August 27, 2023

Charlotte bounce back