LAFC vs Philadelphia Union score, result: Gareth Bale nets dramatic goal, LAFC wins MLS Cup on penalties

Simon Borg

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LAFC vs Philadelphia Union score, result: Gareth Bale nets dramatic goal, LAFC wins MLS Cup on penalties image

The MLS Cup 2022 final will arguably go down as the greatest game in Major League Soccer's history. LAFC won it in a penalty shootout after a wild 3-3 finish in extra time. It's the first MLS Cup in LAFC's brief history since their launch in 2018.

But it only got to penalties thanks to the heroics of Wales star Gareth Bale, who hadn't made much of an impact for the club since joining in the summer and hadn't played a minute of action in over a month since October 2.

With LAFC down to 10 men and trailing 3-2 in the dying minutes of extra time, Bale rose up to head home a 3-3 equalizer to send the match to penalties. 

In the shootout, backup LAFC goalkeeper John McCarthy, a native of Philadelphia and former Union player who came in for injured LAFC starter Maxime Crepeau, emerged as the hero with two stops against his former club. It was enough to earn him MLS Cup MVP honors.

LAFC thought they had the game won in regulation. They held a 2-1 lead with minutes remaining in regulation, but the Union wouldn't let up, and defender Jack Elliott scored on a header with four minutes remaining to force extra time, tied at 2-2.

In the closing stages of the extra period, LAFC 'keeper Crepeau came out of his box to stop Union forward Cory Burke charging at goal after an under-hit backpass by an LAFC defender. Crepeau took out Burke to prevent a sure goal, but he was seriously injured in the process, carted off the field while receiving a red card for denial of an obvious scoring opportunity. The lengthy stoppage led to nine minutes of stoppage time. 

And if going down a man was a blow for LAFC, they took a sucker punch minutes later when Elliott scored again to give the Union a 3-2 lead deep into stoppage time of the extra period. With a man advantage and only a few minutes left, it looked like the cup was heading to Philadelphia for the first time.

But Bale came up with a moment of magic by scoring a goal with seconds remaining in the extra period, rising high to head home a 3-3 equalizer that sent Banc of California Stadium into delirium. He towered over Elliott, who was the Union's hero to that point, emphatically thumping the ball into the net for his third goal in an LAFC jersey, coming in his first appearance in the 2022 playoffs.

In the penalty shootout, Philadelphia failed to convert a single attempt. Daniel Gazdag slipped at the penalty spot on the Union's first attempt, and then McCarthy made the diving stop on Jose Rodriguez and Kai Wagner. LAFC's Ilie Sanchez netted the winning spot kick to clinch the victory.

The memorable MLS Cup final, attended by celebrities like Justin Bieber and LAFC owners Magic Johnson and Will Ferrell, was a matchup between the two best teams that finished tied with the most points during the 2022 regular season. LAFC hosted the MLS Cup final because it won the tiebreaker for most wins in the season. 

MORE: Every result from the MLS Cup 2022 playoffs: How LAFC, Philly reached the final

LAFC vs Philadelphia Union final score

  1H 2H ET1 ET2 Final (Penalties)
LAFC 1 1 0 1 3 (3)
Philadelphia 0 2 0 1 3 (0)

Goals:
LA — Kellyn Acosta — 28th min.
PHI — Daniel Gazdag (Jose Martinez) — 59th min.
LA — Jesus Murillo (Carlos Vela) — 83rd min.
PHI — Jack Elliott (Kai Wagner) — 85th min.
PHI — Jack Elliott — 124th min.
LA — Gareth Bale (Diego Palacios) — 128th min.

LAFC lineup (4-3-3, left to right): Crepeau (GK) — Palacios, Ibeagha, Murillo, Hollingshead — Acosta (91' Tello), Sanchez, Cifuentes — Bouanga, Arango (74' Opoku, 117' McCarthy), Vela (97' Bale).

Philadelphia Union lineup (4-3-1-2, left to right): Blake (GK) — Wagner, Elliott, Glesnes, Mbazio — Flach, Martinez, McGlynn (84' Aaronson) — Gazdag — Uhre (71' Burke, 121' Donovan), Carranza.

LAFC vs Philadelphia Union live updates, highlights from MLS Cup

Penalty Shootout (LAFC 3, Union 0)

Round 1 - LAFC: Cristian Tello just passes it to Blake and he saves it easily! (LAFC 0, PHI 0)
Round 1 - Union: Daniel Gazdag slips at the penalty spot and skies it! (LAFC 0, PHI 0)
Round 2 - LAFC: Denis Bouanga scores it. Top left corner. (LAFC 1, PHI 0)
Round 2 - Union: Jose Rodriguez's shot is saved by McCarthy. (LAFC 1, PHI 0)
Round 3 - LAFC: Ryan Hollingshead converts (LAFC 2, PHI 0)
Round 3 - Union: Kai Wagner's shot is saved by McCarthy (LAFC 2, PHI 0)
Round 4 - LAFC: Ilie Sanchez scores it and LAFC wins MLS Cup! (LAFC 3, PHI 0) 

End of Extra Time: LAFC 3, Philadelphia 3

End of Extra Time: We're heading to penalty kicks. And the Union are facing one of their ex-players and a Philly native — John McCarthy, who replaced injured Canadian international Maxime Crepeau.

By the way, on the other end there's MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Andre Blake. McCarthy and Blake were once teammates with the Union.

128th min.: Goal LAFC! Gareth Bale scores! It's 3-3! Left-back Diego Palacios gets to the end line and chips in a cross and there was Bale to head home over ... Union hero Jack Elliott.

124th min.: Goal Philadelphia! The Union take their first lead through Jack Elliott, who was the first to react to a rebound after a sensational save by LAFC's John McCarthy. The Union are up 3-2 against 10-man LAFC!

The Union were crashing the box after a corner kick and they had enough bodies around the ball to put home the rebound.

120th min.: SUB Philadelphia. Chris Donovan is the unexpected sub for Cory Burke who has to come off. And we're getting 9 minutes of stoppage time after that long stoppage.

118th min.: SUB Philadelphia. John McCarthy, the backup goalkeeper and a native of Philly, comes into the match for Opoku. LAFC are down to 10 men.

116th min.: Red card to Crepeau. While the LAFC 'keeper is getting treatment on the ground, he is shown a red card by Elfath, who changed his mind.

Crepeau is carted off the field and tries to pump up his teammates as he's coming off. He also flashes a thumbs-up.

110th min.: Oh no! Bad collision when Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau comes off his line to challenge Union forward Cory Burke, who was heading unopposed at goal after an under-hit backpass.

Crepeau brought down Burke in the open field and it looked like denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. Referee Ismael Elfath shows a yellow card before the medical staff comes out and not a red card.

And it's not looking good for Crepeau, who was supposed to be part of the Canadian World Cup squad in a week's time. The cameras are not showing the treatment he's receiving. Backup goalkeeper John McCarthy is getting set to come on against his hometown team.

106th min.: The momentum is now in Philly's favor. LAFC have not been dangerous since the first play Bale made in the Union box. Philly look like they have a bit more energy than the home team.

End 1st Half Extra Time: LAFC 2, Philadelphia 2

103rd min.: Chance Union! Cross from Kai Wagner on the left and Julian Carranza gets a head on it, but it hits the roof of the net.

99th min.: There's definitely more energy and purpose about the play now from both sides. Bale gets a touch in the box, but no one is there in front of goal to meet his delivery.

97th min.: Gareth Bale's coming into the match. He comes on for Carlos Vela.

91st min.: Extra time is underway. Cristian Tello is in for LAFC's Kellyn Acosta.

Regulation: LAFC 2, Philadelphia Union 2

95th min.: Chance LAFC! On a free kick -- yep, you guessed it -- leads to a Carlos Vela delivery that's headed down toward the goal line, but Union netminder Andre Blake snagged it on the goal line.

91st min.: YELLOW CARD to Philly's Julian Carranza. And about five minutes prior it was LAFC's Sebastien Ibeagha who got a yellow for a foul that led to a Union set piece.

90th min.: Seven minutes of stoppage time. Look out for the set pieces.

85th min.: Goal Union! What a response by Philly! Set piece taken by Kai Wagner and he delivers to the near post where a wide-open Jack Elliott nods home. It's 2-2!

83rd min.: Goal LAFC! Header by Jesus Murillo on a beautiful rope of a corner kick from Carlos Vela. LAFC only have a few minutes to hold on for the 2-1 win.

79th min.: As we enter the last 10 minutes, it feels like a single moment is going to decide this. There's still not much attacking flow from either team and it's been hard to build any rhythm. It's going to take a special moment and it'll probably happen on a set piece.

74th min.: SUB LAFC. Kwadwo Opoku replaces forward Chicho Arango. No Gareth Bale yet.

71st min.: SUB Philly. Cory Burke comes in for forward Mikael Uhre. Like-for-like substitution.

64th min.: YELLOW CARD to LAFC's Jose Cifuentes, who ran into Union goalkeeper Andre Blake as he challenged for a lofted corner kick. The Union players did not appreciate it and let him know about it.

59th min.: Goal Philly! A set piece for the Union goes right to Daniel Gazdag in the box, and the Union's star has time to collect and score. That's his 17th goal in his last 18 matches for Philly.

56th min.: Injury stoppage. Now there's a long stop for Philly's Olivier Mbaizo who collided with LAFC's Jose Cifuentes. The Union right-back goes through the concussion protocol on the sideline.

54th min.: LAFC players want a second yellow shown to Philly's Jack Elliott, who was already sitting on a yellow, for contact to the head of LAFC forward Chicho Arango. It leaves the Colombian down for a while.

51st min.: Chance Union! Long ball to Union forward Mikael Uhre who made a run in behind and he gets to the ball first, but the recovering defenders swarm him and the chance is lost. 

46th min.: Second half is underway. Same 22 players out there.

Halftime: LAFC 1, Philadelphia Union 0

Halftime: It wasn't the greatest half of soccer and we really didn't see many effective build-ups in open play, which is also a testament to how strong and evenly matched these two teams are.

A fortuitous deflection gave LAFC the lead, but the Union are very much in this game and they gave LAFC some moments to think about. But the Union need their forward players to come through. Daniel Gazdag has been shut down by LAFC's midfield, and Mikael Uhre and Julian Carranza have not been sharp with their handful of looks.

43rd min.: Chances at both ends! First it was Mikael Uhre with a chance in the box that was snuffed out in the box by Sebastien Ibeagha at the last moment.

Then the transition going the other way ends with LAFC's Chicho Arango sending a shot that just misses the target.

39th min.: What a chance for LAFC! Carlos Vela earns a set-piece and on the rebound he delivers a fantastic ball into the box to left-back Diego Palacios. Union 'keeper Andre Blake makes the save.

Here was Justin Bieber's reaction to that set piece chance.

37th min.: Chance Union! The cut-back pass gets to Julian Carranza just inside the top of the box, but the Philly forward skies it. That was a poor effort.

32nd min.: The referee graces LAFC captain Carlos Vela who was late on a challenge on Kai Wagner. That probably should've been a yellow. Instead, he gets a talking to.

28th min.: Goal LAFC! Everyone expects Carlos Vela to take a free kick and instead it's Kellyn Acosta to take it and his shot deflects off Jack McGlynn's head and past goalkeeper Andre Blake.

25th min.: As the Union start spending more time in LAFC's half, one of their owners is probably getting into it with his NBA team owner.

20th min.: Union half-chance. LAFC 'keeper Maxime Crepeau comes out flailing on a cross and he's lucky it doesn't cost his team. The ball ends up with Union right-back Olivier Mbaizo, who takes the long distance shot that's well off the mark.

14th min.: YELLOW CARD to Union center-back Jack Elliott for scything down LAFC right-back Ryan Hollingshead along the sideline. Nothing comes of the Carlos Vela set piece.

11th min.: Neither team has the upper hand 10 minutes in. LAFC are not happy a corner kick wasn't called which replays showed was clear.

The referee is MLS Referee of the Year Ismael Elfath, who will be a referee in Qatar.

8th min.: The match has settled down now. And so have Justin and Hailey Bieber.

1st min.: We're off in LA. And LAFC immediately starting on the front foot.

1 min from kickoff: The Dragonball tifo from LAFC's supporters:

5 mins from kickoff: Meanwhile. Union supporters back at Subaru Park are getting ready to watch the final in their home stadium.

10 mins from kickoff: The teams are out on the field.

15 mins from kickoff: Carlos Vela speaking to Fox pregame.

20 mins from kickoff: LAFC owner Magic Johnson is at the Banc and he's in his club's jersey.

30 mins from kickoff: The LAFC supporters welcome their own as they take the field for warmups:

45 mins from kickoff: Lineups are out. No Bedoya (Philadelphia), Bale (LAFC), or Chiellini (LAFC) to start:

60 mins from kickoff: Here's the disparity in the money spent on each of the two squads, according to data supplied by the MLS Players Association. LAFC have the sixth-most expensive payroll. Philadelphia the 27th of 28.

60 mins from kickoff: Not even Justin Bieber would miss out on the MLS Cup:

60 mins from kickoff: The flood of LAFC supporters is making its way toward Banc of California Stadium. It's a sample of what you can expect at the stadium.

LAFC vs. Philadelphia Union lineups

At 38 years old, former Italy international Giorgio Chiellini will start on the bench with Sebastien Ibeagha replacing him in central defense. Chiellini, who came off at halftime of the Western Conference final, will have a seat next to the other summer star signing Gareth Bale who has not been a starter for LAFC.

LAFC starting lineup (4-3-3, left to right): 16-Crepeau (GK) — 12-Palacios, 25-Ibeagha, 3-Murillo, 24-Hollingshead — 23-Acosta, 6-Sanchez, 20-Cifuentes — 99-Bouanga, 9-Arango, 10-Vela.

Philadelphia Union captain Alejandro Bedoya will start on the bench after the hip injury forced him off at halftime of the Eastern Conference final. His replacement in that game, Jack McGlynn, is his replacement.

Philadelphia Union starting lineup (4-3-1-2, left to right): 18-Blake (GK) — 27-Wagner, 3-Elliott, 50-Glesnes, 15-Mbazio — 31-Flach, 8-Martinez, 16-McGlynn — 6-Gazdag — 7-Uhre, 9-Carranza.

MORE: A breakdown of the projected USMNT roster for the 2022 World Cup

MLS Cup final live stream, TV channel

The MLS Cup final will be played at 1 p.m. local time at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.

  USA Canada
Date Saturday, November 5
Time 4 p.m. ET
TV channel
(English)		 FOX TSN 4
TV channel
(Spanish)		 TUDN, Univision —
Streaming fuboTV, Fox Sports app, TUDN app TSN Go, TSN Direct

USA: Saturday's MLS Cup final between LAFC and Philadelphia Union from Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles will be broadcast in English in the United States on FOX's network channel. A Spanish-language broadcast can be found on both TUDN and Univision.

All three channels are available to stream via a fuboTV subscription, with a free trial available for new users.

Canada: The 2022 MLS Cup final will be broadcast on TSN 4 in Canada, which can be streamed on TSN GO and TSN Direct.

Simon Borg

Simon Borg Photo

Simon Borg is a senior editor at The Sporting News who has covered football/soccer for over a decade. A supporter of Italian club Parma Calcio from his years growing up in Europe, he was previously a long-time member of Major League Soccer's digital media team, as a multimedia content producer, on-air personality, and Editor-in-Chief. Based in New York City, Borg is multilingual and has covered the domestic and global scene for TSN since 2021.