The Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) advanced to the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions League with a 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Tuesday night at BMO Stadium. LAFC won the series 6-0 on aggregate, having also beat the Whitecaps 3-0 last week in Vancouver.
Carlos Vela scored a pair of first half goals for the home side, giving him three so far in the Champions League, to send LAFC into the break with a five-goal advantage on aggregate. Midway through the second half, Jose Cifuentes rounded out the scoring with his first goal on the season in all competitions.
LAFC will now face either the Philadelphia Union or Liga MX side Atlas in the semifinals with the second leg of their series being played on Wednesday night in Mexico.
NEWS & NOTES
- LAFC has now advanced to the Concacaf Champions League for the second time in club history, having previously reached the Final in 2020.
- The club has outscored opponents 10-2 in the Champions League this year and 22-5 in all competitions this year.
- Carlos Vela scored two first half goals for LAFC. He now has three in the Champions League this season. He ranks third in CCL play this season while teammate Denis Bounaga is first with five.
- Vela is LAFC’s all-time leader in Champions League goals with eight, having scored five in the 2020 Champions League in addition to his three this season.
- He now has three multi-goal games in the competition, having scored twice in the second leg win over Leon in the 2020 Round of 16 and twice against Club America in the 2020 Semifinals.
- Jose Cifuentes’ second-half goal was his first in all competitions this season and his first-ever in the Champions League.
- Ilie Sanchez was credited with an assist on Vela’s second goal of the game. That was his second assist of the tournament.
- Denis Bouanga picked up the assist on LAFC’s third goal, giving him two in the competition to go along with five goals.
- Bouanga and Sanchez are tied with Ryan Hollingshead for the team lead in assists with two each.
- LAFC goalkeeper John McCarthy now has four shutouts in three Champions League games this season.
- Danny Crisostomo made his Champions League debut in the game, coming on as a 73rd minute substitute.
The Black and Gold are back in action in MLS play on Sunday, April 16 when they head to Carson to face the LA Galaxy. That game will kick off at 1:30 p.m. and can be seen live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and FOX.
