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Five things to takeaway from LAFC’s 3-0 win in Colorado

With its fifteenth win of the season — a 3-0 route on the road against the Colorado Rapids — LAFC became the fifth expansion team in MLS history to qualify for the playoffs in its inaugural history on Saturday. But the game wasn’t important just because of the historical postseason clinch. It also shows signs of how LAFC can continue to succeed — or struggle — as it continues in its first season of MLS play.

Shine bright like Diomande

In an offensively solid game for LAFC, Adama Diomande was the star of the show. He notched two goals in under 10 minutes at the end of the first half, serving up the brace and then delivering again six minutes later.

But it wasn’t just the simple scoresheet — Diomande thrilled the Black and Gold fans with the style in which he played, especially with his crafty, beautiful second strike with his left foot to secure the victory.

Corners come through, and Zimmerman finds his forte

Just two weeks ago, defender Walker Zimmerman had never scored a goal in the MLS before in his career. Now, he has three goals to his name, and all of them have come off of corner kicks.

Corner kicks weren’t previously a strong suit for LAFC, but the introduction of Zimmerman to these set pieces has proven to be the perfect match for the team. The typical setup is simple — Zimmerman is set up in the middle of the box and is given a running start to attack a ball that is curled back towards the back post.

Vela has gotten into a groove of placing this box where Zimmerman, who typically towers over other players with his 6-foot-3, 185-pound frame, can either muscle up over defenders or duck down to slice in a goal. Expect to see this set piece continually used as LAFC looks to improve its effectiveness off of set pieces.

Vela continues to support as a captain

Although he hasn’t been seen on the scoresheet since the first of September, captain Carlos Vela has continued to thrive as he fulfills his role as captain, setting up his fellow players as LAFC finds different ways to diversify his attack. His most noticeable adjustment in the last few games has been in his ability to connect with Zimmerman from the corner, where he has connected for three goals so far over three games.

Vela’s support often isn’t represented in official statistics, although he does lead the team with 10 assists so far this season. But his ability to spread the ball and draw off defenders has benefitted the team greatly, even when he’s not finding the back of the net.

LAFC makes up for lack of possession with offensive rigor

After a slow start, LAFC did not ever manage to dominate possession, accounting for only 46 percent of ball time throughout the game and allowing Colorado more opportunities to build out of the back and create offensive rhythm. This has been a concern for the team in recent weeks, especially last Saturday against Chicago. The main difficulty when maintaining possession comes from the midfield, which often struggles in losses to create rhythm and maintain passing to connect the defense with the offense.

However, LAFC was still able to dominate the scoreboard with a simple counter — relentlessly attacking. Although the team’s 15 shots aren’t a high number by any means, it was still a furious enough flurry to keep Colorado honest and crack through to end the first half. In the future, maintaining possession will be vital against stronger teams, especially in the season closer against Sporting KC. But this weekend, attacking was enough to balance the field.

Jockeying for the top in Western Conference standings

While LAFC was easily handling Colorado in its 3-0 win, Sporting KC struggled at home against the Los Angeles Galaxy. After barely squeaking out with a 1-1 draw, LAFC has now pulled even with Kansas City for the No. 2 position in the Western Conference. Both teams boast 53 points, solidly behind FC Dallas, which ranks in first with 57 points overall.

For LAFC, this result is a major victory. The team returns to Los Angeles for back-to-back games in its home stadium, where it has only ceded a single loss in the entire season. It will then head back on the road for one final game, to face off against Sporting KC and finally cement the second place slot in the conference. If LAFC can hand out two more positive finishes at Banc of California Stadium — while Kansas City takes on two opponents on the road — it will be in a good position to finish with the No. 2 rank in the conference.