Even though they went into the game eliminated early, Los Angeles FC managed to say goodbye to the Club World Cup with an excellent performance against Flamengo, drawing 1-1 against one of the teams that qualified for the round of 16 and one of the most competitive teams in the United States.
Naturally, Filipe Luís' side dominated possession, working very well in attack with short passes, but their long throws were unsuccessful thanks to LA FC's very well-structured defensive line, which also used set-pieces to scare the Rio de Janeiro side.
With the spaces very tightly closed, Flamengo started to work the ball more from the flanks, with the center-forward Pedro crossing several balls to find Arrascaeta and Everton. The number of balls hit the crossbar by Filipe Luis' side was noteworthy, as was the fact that LA FC scored the first goal, which was disallowed thanks to Hollingshead's offside.
Flamengo came back from the break with much more intensity in the second half even though LA FC came close to scoring with a great individual move from Bouanga, who made a fine run down the right and advanced alone leaving his markers behind, scoring another offside goal. However, the Los Angeles side withstood the pressure and opened the scoring in absolutely astonishing fashion.
In the 83rd minute, Tillman took a quick free-kick close to the by-line on the right and top scorer Bouanga took advantage of the space provided by Flamengo to beat goalkeeper Rossi and score what would have been a historic goal. However, Flamengo soon equalized, thanks to Jorginho, who found young prodigy Wallace Yan in the middle of the box to dribble past several markers and hit a cross past an experienced goalkeeper.
MLS teams improved at the end of the group stage
In contrast to their results and performances in the first round, the MLS teams left a good impression in the group stage of the Club World Cup. Unfortunately, LA FC could have gone further had they put their nerves to one side in the match against Esperance.