It went down to the wire, but Los Angeles FC pulled off the win in their home opener against Sporting Kansas City.

Adama Diomande scored the winning goal in the third minute of stoppage time to lead LAFC to the victory. Diego Rossi also scored for the hosts after Krisztian Nemeth gave SKC the lead in the 16th minute.

SKC had the bulk of the early chances and they culminated in the Nemeth goal just after the 15 minute mark. The Hungarian finished from the top of the penalty area after LAFC failed to clear a breakout thanks to some interference from referee Robert Sibiga.

LAFC thought they would be able to level the score all of five minutes later when a Carlos Vela shot was blocked amidst screams for handball. Sibiga went to the VAR monitor, but didn’t give a penalty.

The game belonged to LAFC after halftime. Rossi scored the equalizer with  well placed shot at the far post less than two minutes after the second half began. Tim Melie robbed them of a second goal about ten minutes later.

LAFC were really allowed to pressure at the end when Roger Espinoza was sent off for earning a second yellow on a late challenge in the 84th minute. This allowed the home team to exploit attacking space to eventually set up the Diomande winner.

Man of the Match

Carlos Vela didn’t get on the scoresheet, but he was the driving force for almost all of LAFC’s attacks down the right side of the pitch.

Moment of the Match

Diomande’s winner broke SKC hearts and sent the Banc of California Stadium crowd home happy.

Match to Forget

Roger Espinoza got himself sent off for a foolish challenge late in the match and really put his team in a bind.