LAFC suffered a 2-0 loss to D.C. United in a preseason match on Tuesday afternoon in their opening game of the Coachella Valley Invitational at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA.
After LAFC defender Diego Palacios was whistled for a foul in the penalty area, D.C. United took an early 1-0 lead in the 9th minute when they converted on the ensuing penalty kick. LAFC nearly equalized two minutes later when Mahala Opoku’s attempt on goal was cleared off the goalline by D.C. the defense.
LAFC started the match with an attacking trio of Opoku, Carlos Vela and Brian Rodríguez, with Latif Blessing, Ilie Sánchez and José Cifuentes in the midfield. Newcomer Maxime Crépeau was in goal, and manned a defense that featured Franco Escobar, Jesus Murillo, Mamadou Fall and Diego Palacios.
The Black & Gold made wholesale changes in the second half as Danny Musovski, Cristian Arango and Cal Jennings came on in the attack, and Danny Crisostomo, Francisco Ginella and Frank Daroma took over in the midfield.
Defender Ryan Hollingshead, who was acquired in a trade with FC Dallas in exchange for Marco Farfan on Feb. 10, made his LAFC debut, coming on to play in the back alongside Sebastian Ibeagha, Tony Leone and Kim Moon-Hwan. John McCarthy took over in goal for the second half, but he was not able to keep D.C. off the scoreboard as United was able to put one past him in the 77th minute on a goal by Drew Skundrich.
The Coachella Valley Invitational continues for LAFC on Saturday, Feb. 19 when they face the New York Red Bulls at 12:00 p.m. PT in Indio. The game will not be televised and is closed to the public.
