Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) drew 1-1 with the Vancouver Whitecaps at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday night in Xavi Tamarit's debut as LAFC's interim head coach.
Vancouver, the first-place team in the West and the defending Western Conference champions, went down a man in the seventh minute when center back Tristan Blackmon was shown a red card for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity to LAFC's Jacob Shaffelburg. The Whitecaps would play the rest of the match with 10 men, but would nonetheless find the first goal when Oliver Larraz poked in a rebound after his initial close-range shot was saved by LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.Â
The Whitecaps' 1-0 halftime lead only lasted a few seconds into the second half, as Denis Bouanga scored on a header in the 46th minute, finishing a cross from right back Sergi Palencia. The goal was Bouanga's 15th regular-season goal of the year and the 80th of his MLS career.Â
LAFC created several more chances over the final 45 minutes, including a 54th-minute goal from Bouanga that was negated due to offside, but the Black & Gold (11W-9L-9D) could not find the matchwinner and thus ended the night still in sixth place in the Western Conference with five regular-season matches remaining.
Saturday's match marked the MLS and LAFC debuts of summer acquisitions Leo Walta and Thayllon Roberth, with Sergio Vásquez making his BMO Stadium debut after playing his first match in Black & Gold in Dallas on September 26.Â
LAFC returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 14, when the club hosts Austin FC at BMO Stadium on Hello Kitty Night. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PT, and the match will be broadcast on Apple TV, as well as Coupang Play and SPOTV for fans in Korea. Local radio coverage will be available on 710 AM ESPN, the ESPN LA app, KYPA 1230 AM (Korean), and 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish), with national coverage on SiriusXM FC 157, SiriusXM 95, and Sirius Soccer en Español 1999.
NOTES
- With the draw, LAFC is now 11W-9L-9D for 42 points this season and 17-10-13 in all competitions.
- At home this season, LAFC is 8W-3L-3D in the league and 12-3-6 in all competitions.
- This was the first game for LAFC’s new interim head coach Xavi Tamarit. He is the fourth head coach in LAFC history and the first interim head coach.
- LAFC has never lost in the first game for one of its head coaches, going 3W-0L-1D in those matches while outscoring opponents 8-1.
- Denis Bouanga scored his 15th goal of the season in the second half. He is now one of just four players, joining Lionel Messi, Petar Musa, and Brian White as the only players with 15 or more goals in each of the last three seasons. Bouanga and White have done so in every MLS season dating back to 2023.
- Bouanga now has 80 regular-season goals for LAFC and 115 goal contributions since making his debut for the club in 2022. He is the 30th player in MLS history to reach 80 regular-season goals.
- Among active MLS players, only Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar and Vancouver’s Brian White have more goals than Bouanga.
- New signings Thayllon and Leo Walta each made their LAFC debuts in the match while Sergio Vásquez made his first start for the club, and his first appearance at BMO Stadium, and was credited with his first assist.
- In addition to Vásquez, Sergi Palencia was credited with an assist on the Bouanga goal. That was his second of the season and first since the 1-0 home win over FC Dallas on March 7.
- Hugo Lloris finished the game with two saves in the 90th regular-season appearance and start of his LAFC career.
- Mark Delgado made the 370th appearance of his MLS career, coming on as a second-half substitute.
