At the start of what could be his last season as a Los Angeles FC player, Carlos Vela waved his magic wand to guide his team to defeat 3-0 Colorado Rapids on the first game of 2022 MLS season with a hat-trick. It is not the first time the Mexican has achieved such a feat with the LAFC jersey.
With the Banc of California Stadium as a witness, Vela shook the Colorado Rapids net on three occasions: the first in the 29th minute with a penalty kick; the second in the 35th minute on a counterattack, and the third in the 50th minute with a superb left-footed shot.
It seems that facing Colorado suits the Mexican star as the last time he had scored a hat trick for Los Angeles FC was precisely against the Rapids more than a year ago: on October 6, 2019, in a regular-season match.
Carlos Vela's hat-tricks so far with Los Angeles FC
Scoring three goals in a game is not a feat that can be achieved often. Fortunately for LAFC fans, Carlos Vela has managed it three times already since he landed in MLS. Most of those were in the season in which he won the Landon Donovan MVP Trophy, and the very last on the recent game against Colorado.
San Jose Earthquakes 0-5 Los Angeles FC / March 30, 2019. The Cancun native scored his first hat-trick in Los Angeles's win over the Quakes. On that occasion, Vela opened the game's scoring in the 8th minute, and later scored goals 3 and 4 of the match in the 45th and 66th minutes, respectively.
Los Angeles 3-1 Colorado Rapids / October 6, 2019. Once again against Colorado and at the Banc of California Stadium, Carlos Vela was in charge of scoring all of LAFC's goals. The first in the 28th minute, and the second and third with assists from Tristan Blackmon in the 31st and 51st minutes.
Similarly, Carlos Vela has managed to score a brace 9 times in 5 seasons and 91 games played in MLS with Los Angeles FC. So far, the Mexican star has scored 62 goals and given 38 assists considering both, the regular season and MLS Cup Play-off matches.
