CHESTER, PA – A stoppage time goal from Kellyn Acosta earned Los Angeles FC a dramatic 1-1 draw with the Philadelphia Union in the second leg of their 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League semifinal on Wednesday night at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Daniel Gazdag’s late penalty conversion had Philadelphia holding a narrow lead going into the final minutes, but Acosta’s score in the dying moments handed the visitors a crucial away goal going into next week’s return leg in Los Angeles.

After an opening half-hour in which the teams felt each other out, the pace ramped out toward the end of the half and saw the Union conjure up the first big scoring chance of the game in the 39’ when Mikael Uhre bore down on the LAFC goal, only to be denied by visiting GK John McCarthy.

McCarthy was called into action a second time just moments before halftime when Julian Carranza got loose behind the LAFC defense, requiring a diving save to keep things scoreless.

2023 SCCL leading scorer Denis Bouanga had largely been quiet through the first hour, but he almost broke the deadlock in the 67’ with a chance that forced Union GK Andre Blake into a sensational stretch save.

Philadelphia kept plugging away at trying to get a goal and their persistence paid off when, after a VAR review, a penalty was called for an LAFC handball on Acosta in the area in the 84’.

Just like in the first leg of the quarterfinal round against Mexican side Atlas when he was tasked with taking a late penalty, Gazdag stepped up to take the spot kick and coolly converted to make it a 1-0 Union lead.

There were just a few minutes left until the final whistle, but for a dangerous team like LAFC, it proved plenty, as a stoppage time chance saw Timothy Tillman cross into the area, aided by a slight touch from Bouanga, and Acosta was able to connect enough to bounce the ball into net for a stunning 1-1 equalizer in the 90+1’ to earn LAFC the critical away goal.