LAFC, the reigning Western Conference champions and the West’s top seed in the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, watched with great interest Wednesday night as the Portland Timbers hosted the Vancouver Whitecaps in a Wild Card match to decide which team would travel to BMO Stadium this Sunday for Game 1 of its Round One Best-of-3 Series.
Portland, which held an impressive 9W-3L-5D home record in MLS play in 2024, was blown off its own pitch by the ‘Caps in a 5-0 rout that was over midway through the first half, when Vancouver scored three goals in an 11-minute span to secure a rematch of last season’s opening-round playoff matchup against LAFC.
For top-seeded LAFC to reach the MLS Cup Final for the third straight season, a feat no team has achieved since 2007, it must first get past its conference rivals from Canada.
A few items of interest headed into the series:
Whitecaps midfielder Ryan Gauld, who always seems to raise his level when facing the Black & Gold, will arrive in LA in top form after tallying a hat trick against the Timbers and posting 24 goal contributions (11 goals, 13 assists) in his last 21 appearances across all competitions.
Gauld’s fellow Scotsman, Stuart Armstrong, who signed with Vancouver last month, recorded a goal and two assists against Portland in just his second start in a ‘Caps shirt.
Wednesday’s win was the most lopsided playoff victory in Whitecaps history, equaling the club’s 5-0 win over San Jose in the 2017 postseason. It was also the first time the 'Caps have scored five goals in an MLS match away from home.
LAFC and Vancouver have faced one another nine times since the start of the 2023 season, across four competitions (MLS regular season, Concacaf Champions Cup, Leagues Cup, and MLS Playoffs). No two MLS teams have clashed nearly that many times in that span.
In those nine matches against Vancouver in 2023-24, LAFC owns a record of 6W-1L-2D, with a goal differential of +13 (22 goals scored, nine conceded) including three clean sheets.
LAFC and Vancouver last met just two Sundays ago, when Ilie Sánchez’s stoppage-time goal gave LAFC a 2-1 road win on Oct. 13, keeping its hopes alive for the top seed in the West. LAFC clinched that number-one seed six days later, with a dramatic 3-1 win over San Jose at BMO Stadium.
LAFC is tough to beat at home, especially in the postseason. The Black & Gold went undefeated at BMO Stadium in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, including a 5-2 win over Vancouver in Game 1 of last year’s Round One Best-of-3 Series.
LAFC earned the second-best regular-season home record in the Western Conference in 2024, going 11W-2L-4D.
Vancouver will host Game 2 of this Best-of-3 series on Sunday, Nov. 3, at BC Place, where their home record in MLS play this year was 6W-7L-4D. LAFC won in Vancouver in Game 2 of last year’s playoff series, 1-0, on the strength of a Denis Bouanga penalty kick in the 24th minute.
Bouanga is one of two MLS players to record at least 20 goals and 10 assists during the 2024 regular season. Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi is the other.
LAFC will play its first game of the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs on Sunday, Oct. 27, at 6:45 p.m. PT at BMO Stadium. Game 1 of its Round One Best-of-3 Series against the Vancouver Whitecaps will be broadcast for free on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, as well as on FS1, FOX Deportes, ESPN LA 710 AM, and 980 AM La Mera Mera.
