LAFC gave Christian Pulisic and Borussia Dortmund a run for their money in Tuesday night’s friendly. However, LAFC’s performance wasn’t quite enough to completely shut down Dortmund in its first ever international win. The two teams settled for a 1-1 draw Tuesday night at Banc of California Stadium.
“The stadium was unbelievable,” said Christian Pulisic. “It was awesome to play with Dortmund the first time especially in the USA against a good America opponent, LAFC, the new team this year. I thought it was a really good game, and I had a lot of fun out there.”
LAFC made it a long night for Borussia keeper Roman Weidenfeller.
LAFC posted its first real threatening shot by the six minute mark as Laurent Ciman headed a corner kick toward the back post. It wasn’t too long before Carlos Vela was returning for another attack with Diego Rossi, passing through the defense to a wide open Rossi. Rossi pushes the ball back to Vela who boots one to force Weidenfeller to make another save. LAFC was knocking on Dortmund’s door not but three minutes later with another attacking play as LAFC set the tone of the game.
“Yeah, I would say it was a good level,” said Pulisic about LAFC’s performance. “They were definitely playing fútbal, and that was awesome to see. It definitely tested us. It wasn’t an easy game, and we enjoyed it.”
It was a long night for Dortmund as LAFC threatened time and time again for the full 90 minutes. Finally, LAFC found its chance, breaking down the German defense in the 77th minute as Aaron Kovar fought off a Dortmund defender and put a foot on a low pass inside from Lee Nguyen to take the 1-0 lead.
“(It felt) good. It was awesome especially that side in front of everybody,” said Kovar. “I probably could have had another one or maybe even two. That’s the step forward, but I’m just glad one went in.”
But it wasn’t enough to hold off Dortmund’s Maximillian Phillip. Phillip managed to slip in a shot in the final four minutes of play to keep Dortmund in the game. After receiving the shot at the top of the box, Phillip quickly turned to shoot. LAFC keeper Tyler Miller managed to tip the shot but couldn’t get enough of a hand on it and push it past the post, tying the game 1-1 in the 87th minute of regular play.
“It’s awesome to see a good opponent here in LAFC. The league is definitely growing, and I wouldn’t count out playing in America one day.”
