The Los Angeles Football Club was born amid hype and expectation in a small Hollywood movie studio four years ago this week. And on Thursday its first Major League Soccer season ended in frustration and disappointment, with Real Salt Lake scoring two unanswered goals for a 3-2 playoff victory that was repeatedly interrupted by fans throwing debris on the field.
In the final minutes the angry sellout crowd of 22,000 also loudly revived a homophobic chant that hadn’t been heard at Banc of California Stadium since LAFC’s home opener.
It was an inglorious end to what had been a glorious season, one that saw LAFC set a record for a first-year team by earning 57 points while becoming only the fifth expansion club to reach the playoffs.