LAFC Star Carlos Vela Dribbled Through San Jose’s Defense For A Breathtaking Goal

If you have not watched much MLS this year, checking out Los Angeles Football Club is very much worth your time. They are, perhaps, the best side in league history, entering Wednesday night with 67 goals scored and 25 allowed in 25 matches, which is hilarious. They’re led by Mexican international Carlos Vela, who is almost certainly going to win league MVP this year and is capable of wholly ludicrous things like what he did in the following clip.

The context: Los Angeles is playing host to a solid San Jose side on Wednesday night. LAFC found itself up 2-0 after 17 minutes thanks to goals by Diego Rossi and Vela, but the team’s star decided he wasn’t satisfied with that scoreline. So in the 41st minute, he thought it would be fun to end the Earthquakes franchise by doing this.

Vela’s movement before he gets the ball is nothing short of sublime, opting to lay it off for Rossi so he could exploit the space in the little box created by San Jose’s defenders. Of course, that kind of savvy is very nice, but it is nowhere near as cool as retaining possession as one of the opposing center backs (Guram Kashia, No. 37) slid in for a tackle and going right around the other (Florian Jungwirth, No. 23).

And even then, Vela found a way to make two more dudes look silly. Quakes keeper Daniel Vega came out to challenge Vela, but ended up getting dropped. The final line of defense was right back Nick Lima, who thought he read what Vela was trying to do and threw his body in front of what he anticipated where he anticipated the shot was going to go. Instead, Vela let him slide into the back of the net before putting the ball there, too.

This is perfect. Vela’s movement off the ball and the way he found a way to get past whatever the Quakes tried to throw at him is as good. I’m gonna go ahead and watch this a few more times, and I highly recommend you do as well.