It’s Episode 154, and it’s our maiden voyage into Austin, Texas, and to the house that Al Raitt built, Q2 Arena. LAFC continues their winning ways on the road, 2-0, behind a standout performance from Jose Cifuentes, a goal from Diego Rossi, and another clean sheet for Tomas Romero. Back-to-back road wins, and just like that, the Black and Gold ship seems to have been righted for the time being. 

 An early yellow for Austin seemed to predict tidings of doom, and in the 40th minute, doom arrived for FC Broccoli. After Stuver makes a save on Kim Moon-Hwan, the rebound finds the foot of Cifu, who deposits it, as Filly would say, in the back of the polyurethane. Though Austin controlled possession for large portions of the first half, it’s LAFC with the 1-0 lead at the half. 

 Because of a few video issues, we missed the first 13 minutes of the second half, but luckily, we still lead when the picture returns! A huge shout out to Jen over at Party Beer for working so hard to get the picture working. The teams would trade jabs back and forth throughout the remainder of the half, and like many Kenley Jansen saves, it never felt comfortable, but it kept going our way. Right before the 90’, last year’s two-time Golden Boot winner, Diego Rossi, was given plenty of space on a 1v1 run vs. Brad Stuver, and that was the ball game. The Vela-to-Rossi connection salts it away, and LAFC gets on the plane with a 2-0 win in their pocket. 

 Also on the episode, we talk about the Scarf vs. Panda Bowl, which the rest of the world apparently calls the Euro 2020 Final. It’s Italy vs. England, and it’s going to be a blast. We also talk Copa America and look forward to Brazil vs. Argentina. Closing out the episode, it’s Scarf who rants, Filly who goes over the upcoming schedule, and, according to Bob Bradley, Bruce El-Mesmari is already Black and Gold! We’ve got 10 days until 155, so until we welcome RSL to the Banc, enjoy Episode 154!