LAFC extended its club-record unbeaten streak to 12 games in all competitions with a 2-1 win over archrivals LA Galaxy in front of 70,076 fans at the Rose Bowl on Thursday night. Kei Kamara and Denis Bouanga each scored late in the first half for LAFC, which has now won three straight games against the Galaxy, and three straight league games.
LAFC is now 13-4-4 on the season for 43 points, leaving the club three points clear of the Galaxy and Real Salt Lake at the top of the Western Conference. LAFC is in third place in the race for the Supporters’ Shield, four points behind Inter Miami and two points behind FC Cincinnati.
Eduard Atuesta had LAFC’s first clear chance of the game, striking the post off a short pass from Denis Bouanga in the 14th minute. Over the next 25 minutes, each team would create chances before LAFC took the lead in the 40th minute thanks to Kamara. From a Mateusz Bogusz corner kick, the 39-year-old forward rose up over his defender and powered a header past Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy to make the score 1-0.
Four minutes later LAFC was able to double its lead as Bouanga converted a penalty kick for his 14th goal of the season. Atuesta was fouled inside the box, and Bouanga stepped up to take the penalty kick, which he slammed past McCarthy to give LAFC a 2-0 lead going into halftime.
The Galaxy would pull a goal back in the 56th minute through Gabriel Pec, but that would be as close as they would get on the night as the Black & Gold locked down defensively on the way to victory.
LAFC will be back in action on Sunday, July 7, when the club travels to Texas to take on the Houston Dynamo. That game kicks off at 5:30 p.m. PT and is available on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, 710 AM ESPN LA, the ESPN LA app, and 980 AM La Mera Mera.
NEWS & NOTES
- With the win, LAFC is now unbeaten in 12 straight games in all competitions and 10 straight in the league. Both are club records.
- During the club’s current unbeaten streak, LAFC has outscored opponents 30-6 in all competitions and 24-5 in the league.
- This was the 23rd all-time meeting between LAFC and the Galaxy in all competitions. LAFC is now 9-9-5 in those meetings, including wins in each of the past three meetings dating back to last season. Thursday’s win marked the first time that either club has won three straight regular-season games in the series.
- LAFC has now won six of the last seven MLS (regular-season and postseason) meetings between the two sides, becoming the first club in the rivalry to accomplish that feat.
- No team has ever swept the regular-season series between the two clubs, but LAFC can do that when they visit the Galaxy on September 14.
- LAFC finished the game with a 24-10 advantage in shots. This was the third consecutive game and the fifth time this season that the club has recorded 20 or more shots in a game this season, going 5-0-0 in those matches.
- Kei Kamara scored his third MLS goal of the season in the first half, giving him 147 regular-season goals for his career. He is now three goals shy of becoming the second player in league history with 150 or more goals.
- Kamara now has three goals in the last four games, helping LAFC go 2-0-1 when he scores.
- While this was Kamara’s first goal against the Galaxy in an LAFC shirt, it was not his first-ever against the club, having scored twice in 18 previous games against the club.
- Mateusz Bogusz was credited with an assist on Kamara’s goal. He now has a goal or an assist in the last 10 regular-season matches.
- The MLS Player of the Month in June, Bogusz now has nine goals and five assists over the last 10 league games, helping LAFC go 9-0-1 in those matches.
- Bogusz’s streak of 10 straight games with a goal involvement is a single-season record for the club, and is the longest such streak in MLS this season.
- Denis Bouanga scored the game-winning goal with a penalty kick in the 44th minute. It was his 14th goal of the season, leaving him tied for second in the league.
- Bouanga is now 6-for-6 from the penalty spot this season and 9-for-9 in the regular season for LAFC in his two-plus seasons in Los Angeles.
- Bouanga and Bogusz now have scored 26 goals this season, combined. They are the second-highest scoring duo in MLS this season. Only Real Salt Lake’s Cristian Arango and Andres Gomez have scored more, combining for 27 goals this season.
- Eddie Segura came on as a second-half substitute for the 99th regular-season appearance of his MLS career, all of which have come with LAFC. He is now one game away from becoming the eighth player in club history with 100 or more regular-season games played.
- The attendance for tonight’s game was 70,076, making it the third-highest attendance for an LAFC game all-time. Only the July 4 meeting with the Galaxy at the Rose Bowl last season, and the Leagues Cup Showcase against Club America at SoFi Stadium in August 2022, had more fans in attendance.
