LAFC get some revenge by knocking Seattle out of MLS tournament

The reigning MLS champions are heading home.

In a rematch of last year's Western Conference final, Los Angeles FC exacted a measure of revenge on the Seattle Sounders, picking up a 4-1 win to advance to the quarterfinals of the MLS is Back Tournament.

First-half goals from Diego Rossi and Latif Blessing - the first a penalty, and the second coming via a fortuitous deflection off a Seattle defender - gave LAFC a commanding lead going into the halftime interval.

Will Bruin, who made his first appearance in 418 days after recovering from a knee injury, scored just minutes after entering the match as a second-half substitute to give the Sounders some life, but Rossi pounced on a defensive miscue to put the contest to bed in the 82nd minute.

Brian Rodriguez added another minutes before the final whistle for good measure.

In truth, LAFC could - and probably should - have been out of sight well before that point; Bob Bradley's team wasted a plethora of chances to turn the match into a blowout in the second half.

Rossi, the tournament's leading scorer with seven goals in four games, could have added at least a couple more to his personal tally.

In the end, though, it didn't matter. LAFC will now move on to face Orlando City in the quarterfinals of the competition on July 31.

From the outset of Monday's anticipated encounter, Los Angeles was by far the sharper of the two teams at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. The Sounders, looking tired and out of sorts, struggled to deal with LAFC's high pressure. They threatened briefly after Bruin's goal, but were ultimately undone by a series of errors at the back.

The result also means that both Seattle and Toronto FC, the two teams that took part in last season's MLS Cup final, have now been sent packing from the tournament in the last-16 stage.