LAFC’s Carlos Vela devastates San Jose defense in potential goal of the year

LAFC captain Carlos Vela leads Major League Soccer with 26 goals this season.

His most recent — and the second of the two he scored Wednesday night during LAFC’s 4-0 dismantling of the San Jose Earthquakes — was perhaps the most artful of them all.

It came during the 41st minute. After taking a pass from Diego Rossi and avoiding a sliding defender, Vela stepped around another defender inside the box, deked keeper Daniel Vega to the ground, then dribbled around him.

When Nick Lima slid in front of the net in Vega’s place, Vela calmly walked the ball a few steps along the goal line, then used his left foot to poke the ball behind Lima at the near post.

“It was a nice play by Diego, great pass, and after that I just see players and I just say, ‘Do something,’ but they kind of stopped,” Vela said after the game. “I took the ball and kept running, dribbling, and in the end it was a good goal, a good moment.

“But what was important for me in the end was the victory, another win for the team.”

LAFC coach Bob Bradley called it “one really special goal.”

“We all want to see moments like that,” Bradley said. “You come to the game tonight and you see that goal, that’s something that stays with you. Carlos is capable of doing that kind of stuff.”