LAFC won its third straight game in all competitions, with all three victories coming in a span of eight days, by defeating St. Louis CITY 1-0 at BMO Stadium on Wednesday night. Denis Bouanga scored the game’s only goal in first-half stoppage time to help his club improve to 16-8-7 for 55 points on the season.
The home side dominated throughout the match, outshooting St. Louis 20-7 and holding a 6-0 lead in shots on target, but LAFC was unable to get on the scoreboard until first-half stoppage time when LAFC’s front four attackers combined to open the scoring. Olivier Giroud collected a short pass from Cristian Olivera about 35 yards from goal and deftly flicked the ball into the path of Mateusz Bogusz. The Polish international carried the ball into the center of the field before finding Bouanga near the corner of the box. He cut inside onto his right foot and dribbled past a pair of St. Louis defenders before hitting a right-footed shot past St. Louis goalkeeper Benjamin Lundt to make the score 1-0.
After the break, LAFC kept up the pressure with Giroud putting the ball into the net, only for it to be called back for offside, while Bouanga and Ryan Hollingshead were each denied by Lundt. Despite the visitors’ defensive heroics, LAFC was able to keep St. Louis CITY off the scoreboard and collect the full three points.
LAFC will look to extend its winning streak to four when it returns to action on Saturday, October 5, in a repeat of the U.S. Open Cup Final against Sporting Kansas City. That regular-season game kicks off at 5:30 p.m. from Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City and can be seen live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
NEWS & NOTES
- With the win, LAFC is now 16-8-7 on the season for 55 points. The 16 wins are tied for the third most in club history while the 55 points are the fourth most in club history.
- Tonight’s win was LAFC’s 10th regular-season home win of the year. This is the fourth time in seven years that LAFC has won 10 or more league games at home.
- LAFC swept the season series against St. Louis CITY and is now 3-0-1 all-time against the club. LAFC has scored six goals in those four games and has yet to allow one.
- LAFC currently sits in second place in the Western Conference standings and can finish no lower than seventh, meaning that it is guaranteed a place in a Round One Best-of-Three Series.
- Denis Bouanga’s first-half goal was his 19th of the season and the 40th of his MLS-regular-season career.
- Bouanga remains alone in second place on the MLS scoring chart, three goals behind the league leader, Christian Benteke of D.C. United.
- Bouanga is the third player in club history to record 40 or more regular-season goals, joining Carlos Vela and Diego Rossi.
- Bouanga was playing the 100th game of his LAFC career in all competitions. He has 67 goals in that time, scoring 40 in the MLS regular season, 12 in Leagues Cup, seven in the Concacaf Champions League, seven in the MLS Cup Playoffs, and one in the U.S. Open Cup.
- Carlos Vela, the all-time leading scorer in LAFC history, also scored 67 goals in his first 100 games for the club.
- Bouanga now has an MLS-best nine game-winning goals on the season. That is tied for the most game-winning goals by an LAFC player in a single season, and is tied for the third most in MLS history.
- Mateusz Bogusz and Olivier Giroud were each credited with assists on the goal.
- Giroud now has assists in each of the last two games, while Bogusz now has 10 assists in all competitions this year.
- Hugo Lloris kept his 11th clean sheet in 30 regular-season games.
- With his 11th shutout of the season, Lloris now leads MLS and has set a new LAFC record for shutouts in a season.
- His 11 shutouts leave him tied with Maxime Crepeau for the second most all-time in LAFC history. Only Tyler Miller has more with 19 in an LAFC shirt.
- Defender Sergi Palencia missed the game while serving a one-game suspension for yellow-card accumulation.
