LAFC made a little more club history on Wednesday night. One match after recording the 100th regular-season win in Black & Gold history, LAFC rode Denis Bouanga's 50th career goal for the club and a Mateusz Bogusz thunderbolt to a 2-0 win against visiting Minnesota United. The clean sheet extended the Black & Gold's shutout streak across all competitions to 485 minutes and also improved its shutout streak in league play to 390 minutes - both new club records.
The victory against the previous No. 2 team in the West vaults LAFC (8W-4L-3D; 27pts) above the visitors into third place in the standings (the LA Galaxy's 3-1 win against LAFC's next opponent, FC Dallas, keeping the Carson outfit ahead of the Black & Gold by a single point).
A cagey opening half finished with a flourish when the speedy Bouanga was brought down in the MNUFC penalty area in the 37th minute by DJ Taylor. LAFC's leading scorer sent the resulting spot kick into the lower right corner to give his side a 1-0 lead and himself a ninth goal of the campaign.
In the second half, it was Bogusz who capped off the scoring in style when he hammered a shot from distance into the right upper-90 for a spectacular goal and a 2-0 lead in the 82nd minute that effectively put the Black & Gold out of reach.
Another sturdy defensive effort plus a pair of saves by Hugo Lloris in the LAFC goal saw out the remainder of regulaion and gave the Black & Gold their fourth consecutive win in league play and sixth across all competitions.
NEWS & NOTES
- With tonight’s win, LAFC has now won six straight games in all competitions and finishes the month of May with a 6-1-0 record, including 4-0-0 at home.
- LAFC’s shutout streak of 485 minutes in all competitions and 391 minutes in MLS play are both club records. The club has recorded five shutouts in its last five games after recording just two in its first 12 this year.
- Denis Bouanga’s first half goal was the 50th of his LAFC career. He is the third player in club history to score 50 goals, joining Carlos Vela and Diego Rossi, with only Vela doing so faster than Bouanga who needed 80 games to score his 50 goals. Vela needed just 64 games to reach 50 goals while Rossi needed 93.
- Bouanga is now 4-for-4 on penalties this season.
- Bouanga has three goals and three assists during LAFC’s current four-game MLS winning streak.
- In the second half, Mateusz Bogusz scored his third goal in the last four games. He now has six on the season, extending his MLS-career-best tally.
- Bogusz has a goal or an assist in all four games during the current winning streak.
LAFC gets right back to business this Saturday when FC Dallas visits BMO Stadium for Pride Night. Kickoff between the Western Conference combatants is set for 7:30 p.m. PT. Visit https://www.lafc.com/tickets/ to purchase tickets. Fans can also watch all the action on Apple TV – MLS Season Pass or listen on the radio: 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, and KFWB 980 AM La Mera Mera.
