Carlos Vela Steven Beitashour LAFC MLSRuss Isabella

Vela scores first MLS goal as LAFC sends a warning to the rest of the league

Life in Major League Soccer is good for Los Angeles FC. 

The expansion side made it two wins from two matches with a 5-1 thrashing of Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

Bob Bradley's side had already made a statement of intent with a 1-0 win over the Seattle Sounders on opening weekend, but that result came largely against the run of play. 

Saturday's win was a different beast all together. 

Facing an RSL side that had opened the season with a credible 1-1 draw on the road against FC Dallas, coming into the match you would have thought that LAFC was in for another stern test and with 20 minutes gone the club fell behind for the first time in its history. 

Tyler Miller had continued his fine start for the club, saving a Joao Plata penalty, but could do nothing to keep the rebound from being fired home, putting LAFC behind 1-0. 

That lead wouldn't last, with LAFC and Diego Rossi responding by the half-hour mark, and from there Bradley's side turned on the style. 

In the 33rd minute Latif Blessing had the visiting side in front and VAR ruled the goal good despite hints of offside. 

A baffling miss from Rossi, who struck the post with the goal gaping, sent the the club's the break with the expansion team holding a narrow 2-1 lead,  but the second half belonged to LAFC. 

Benny Feilhaber got the onslaught started with his first for the club, finishing off another fine move with a close-range strike. 

Carlos Vela then set up Rossi for his second on the night, pushing the scoreline to 4-1 and effectively putting the match to bed. 

But Vela and Rossi weren't done. 

The 20-year-old Uruguayan slid and inch-perfect pass into his Mexican teammate, and the pace of Vela was more than RSL could cope with. Vela's finish was composed, bending his shot around the on-rushing Nick Rimando to complete a historic beating for RSL, a side which had never allowed five goals at home in league play. 

Just two matches in LAFC has six points on the road against Western Conference opponents, and now Bradley's side gets a nice long rest before playing their first match in Los Angeles, though even that will be another road test against the Galaxy on March 31. 

Like Seattle before them, Real Salt Lake created chances to score goals but struggled against a well-organized back line and a goalkeeper in Miller who, at the moment, doesn't look likely to let in much of anything. 

Rossi and Vela already look like one of the most dangerous pairings in the league, with Marco Urena, Feilhaber and Blessing just adding to the firepower Bradley has at his disposal on the attacking end. 

If the win over Seattle was an early statement, consider the dominant showing against Real Salt Lake a full-on warning that this LAFC team is the real deal. 

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