Gareth Bale acknowledged he seems to have a knack for scoring in finals after he became the first player to score in Champions League and MLS Cup finals when helping LAFC to win Major League Soccer’s championship for the first time on Saturday.
Bale headed in a dramatic equalizer in the 128th minute of thrilling final at Los Angeles’ Banc of California Stadium before LAFC went on to defeat the Philadelphia Union 3-0 in a penalty shootout.
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The Welsh star’s goal was the latest scored in MLS history and tied the game at 3-3 after LAFC had twice taken the lead before going down to 10 men in extra time and then falling behind four minutes into stoppage time.
It was Bale’s sixth goal in a major final. Three of them came in Champions League finals — one against Atletico Madrid in 2014 and two, including a spectacular overhead kick, against Liverpool in 2018. He also scored the winner against Barcelona in the 2014 Copa del Rey final before scoring to help Madrid win the Club World Cup final that same year.
“It’s always nice to score in finals and I seem to have a knack of doing that,” Bale said.
“It’s big. It’s important for the club, it’s important for the fans. We were down to 10 men and not really looking like we were going to get anything out of the game. So credit to everybody to keep pushing, keep fighting and, like I said, it was nice to get the goal and to help the team. Where it ranks, I’m not too sure, but it’s a great feeling.”
