Sixteen-year-old Christian Torres scored his first MLS goal in dramatic fashion to rescue a point for LAFC with an injury-time equalizer in a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers on Sunday night.
The Homegrown forward, who only entered the game with 15 minutes remaining, fired home from the edge of the box in the third minute of injury time following a neat assist from Kwadwo Opoku.
The visitors had got off to a flying start, with Eduard Atuesta and Bradley Wright-Phillips forcing goalkeeper Steve Clark into two saves in the opening 10 minutes. The rest of the half was all Timbers, though, as they recorded shot after shot to no avail, in part because of Pablo Sisniega's four saves in the opening 45 minutes. The Timbers ended the first half with 10 shots, four on target, while LAFC did not register a single attempt after Wright-Phillips' in the 10th minute.
The Timbers rode that momentum to start the second half, and were quickly rewarded when Jeremy Ebobisse scored in the 47th minute. Felipe Mora ran toward the penalty area and played a square pass to Yimmi Chara, who found Ebobisse to score from the edge of the box.
Slowly, though, LAFC started working themselves back into the game. First, Mohamed El-Munir forced Clark into another save, which was followed by an opportunity from Mahala Opoku that went wide of the goal. The visitors continued to press but the Timbers had some of their own opportunities to increase their lead, including an 83rd minute shot from Chara, before Torres made his dramatic late intervention.
Goals
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: The point for LAFC could prove vital come the season's end as it keeps them one point above fifth-placed Minnesota United and for now still looking at a hosting a Round 1 playoff game. Portland, meanwhile, miss a great chance to take over the Western Conference lead from Cascadia rivals Seattle.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: No question about this one. LAFC's equalizer came in thrilling fashion when homegrown Christian Torres scored his first MLS goal in stoppage time.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: The Timbers spent much of the match in control and testing the LAFC defense, and forward Felipe Mora was central in that performance. In addition to recording an assist on Ebobisse's goal, he also managed five shots of his own, three on target.
Next Up
- POR: Thursday, October 22 at Seattle Sounders (10:30 pm ET | FS1 in US; MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada)
- LAFC: Sunday, October 25 against LA Galaxy (3:30 pm ET | ABC in US; TSN2 in Canada)
