David Martinez scored in the second half and Los Angeles FC remained unbeaten and unscored upon with a 1-0 victory over visiting FC Dallas on Saturday night.
Hector Lloris made a diving save on Petar Musa in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time while notching his third straight shutout for LAFC (3-0-0, 9 points). Lloris made five stops for his 27th clean sheet in 68 starts for LAFC.
LAFC has outscored opponents 6-0 this season. One minute before time was called, Musa redirected a cross from Herman Johansson with his right foot and Lloris had to scramble to his right and used both hands to knock aside the shot.
FC Dallas (1-1-1, 4 points) was able to stay in the game behind stellar goalkeeping from Michael Collodi, who made five saves. Collodi’s performance included two big second-half stops on shots from LAFC star Denis Bouanga.
FC Dallas fell to 0-7-1 all-time when playing at LAFC. They have been outscored 14-3 in those matches.
Martinez broke the scoreless tie in the 55th minute as he received the ball well beyond the box and let fly with a left-footed laser. The blast tipped off the hand of Collodi en route to hitting the back of the net.
The goal was the second of the season for the 20-year-old Martinez. He has nine goals in 49 career MLS matches.
LAFC had a chance to add to the lead in the 70th minute when Bouanga broke in on net but his leaping right-footed flick was stopped by Collodi.
Bouanga had another solid opportunity in the 79th minute but Collodi stopped the close-range, right-footed rocket.
Dallas outshot Los Angeles 14-10 but LAFC had a 6-5 edge in shots on target.
In the first half, Bouanga had a solid opportunity in the 23rd minute but his right-footed shot was stopped by the hand of Collodi.
Five minutes later, Dallas’ Bernard Kamungo ripped a left-footed blast from outside the box. Lloris was able to knock the shot upward and over the net.
Son Heung-Min had a chance for LAFC in the 44th minute but his left-footer was stopped by Collodi.
Early in the second half, Musa sent a header over the net for FC Dallas.
–Field Level Media