LOS ANGELES — Jeremy Ebobisse’s final touch in Saturday’s Major League Soccer opening match of the season will be worth remembering for a few reasons.
For starters, the first-time strike off Ebobisse’s left foot was the difference maker for the Los Angeles Football Club, which stayed perfect in season openers with a 1-0 victory over Minnesota United FC at BMO Stadium.
Featured in LAFC’s starting lineup ahead of Olivier Giroud for the afternoon kickoff, Ebobisse, a free-agent signing in December, capitalized on a simple pass from Nathan Ordaz while Giroud waited for a dead-ball whistle to replace him on the field.
From the sideline, Giroud watched as Ebobisse’s first goal for the Black & Gold hummed past Minnesota goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, giving LAFC (1-0-0, 3 points) a reason to celebrate an otherwise slog of a game.
Ordaz entered as a substitute in the 70th minute, replacing David Martínez on the right wing, and he immediately factored into several chances.
On the goal, Ordaz moved from the LAFC side of the field into the attack and was well positioned in the opponent’s box when the club’s back-to-back 20-goal scorer Denis Bouanga looked his way when a path to goal was shut down by a pair of defenders. Ordaz took the ball and turned, identifying Ebobisse who stood alone 18 yards out and delivered LAFC the win.
Despite ceding the possession battle, Minnesota (0-1-0, 0 points) took better chances than LAFC in the first half, yet the visitors managed just two shots on goal against Hugo Lloris – and none until the 92nd minute.
Forward Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi found himself alone deep in the LAFC box early in the match and pushed his shot wide. A short time later, his partner in Minnesota’s two-man starting attack, Kelvin Yeboah, snagged a misdirected pass from LAFC midfielder Timothy Tillman and sauntered to the top of the box before banging a shot off the inside of the post.
LAFC’s best opportunities came late as Bouanga, Ebobisse and Martínez increased their pressure on the Minnesota backline.
All told, LAFC took 13 shots, putting six on target, as they controlled the ball to the tune of 62% possession.
