LAFC advanced to the quarterfinals of Leagues Cup 2024 for the second straight year with a 4-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes at BMO Stadium on Tuesday night. Denis Bouanga scored twice and Cristian Olivera and Mateusz Bogusz each added goals for the home side. Forward Olivier Giroud made his LAFC debut when he entered the match in the 71st minute, replacing Olivera.
LAFC next faces the Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field in Seattle on Saturday, August 17. That game will kick off at 5 p.m. PT with the winner advancing to the Leagues Cup semifinals against either Club America of Liga MX or the Colorado Rapids.
After a quiet opening 15 minutes for both sides, LAFC grabbed the lead thanks to Olivera. Ryan Hollingshead won a header near midfield, putting the ball into the path of Olivera who cut past an Earthquakes defender before firing a right-footed shot past goalkeeper William Yarbrough to give LAFC a 1-0 lead.
San Jose equalized in the 41st minute on a goal from Hernán Lopez. The Argentine midfielder hit a left-footed volley from the center of the box, tying the game at 1-1.
Just before halftime, Yarbrough pulled down Eduard Atuesta inside the San Jose penalty area, giving LAFC a penalty kick which Bouanga fired past Yarbrough to send LAFC into halftime with a 2-1 lead.
Bogusz extended the LAFC lead to 3-1 just after the hour mark when he collected a pass from Ilie Sánchez and hit a long-range shot that went through the hands of Yarbrough and into the net. Five minutes later, Bouanga put the game out of reach with his second goal of the game, making the score 4-1.
NEWS & NOTES
- LAFC has now reached the quarterfinals of Leagues Cup each year that the competition has been played. The Philadelphia Union are the only other MLS club to have achieved that feat.
- LAFC is now 20-5-6 in all competitions in 2024. The club is 14-5-5 in MLS play, 3-0-0 in the U.S. Open Cup and now 3-0-1 in Leagues Cup.
- At BMO Stadium, LAFC is 14-1-4 in 2024, keeping a clean sheet in nine of those 19 games.
- Since suffering a 3-1 loss to San Jose on May 4, LAFC has compiled a 16-1-3 record in all competitions.
- In two games against the Earthquakes at BMO Stadium this year, LAFC has outscored San Jose 10-3, with Mateusz Bogusz and Denis Bouanga each scoring three times.
- LAFC is 5-1-1 all-time in Leagues Cup, including 5-0-1 at BMO Stadium. In those seven games, LAFC has outscored its opponents 24-7, including 22-4 at BMO.
- Denis Bouanga finished the game with two goals. This was his third multi-goal game in seven all-time Leagues Cup appearances.
- Bouanga now has 10 goals all-time in the competition, leaving him tied with Lionel Messi, who also had 10 goals in seven games. Bouanga leads MLS in all-time Leagues Cup goal contributions with 16 (10 goals, 6 assists), ranking just ahead of Messi (10 goals, 4 assists).
- Bouanga has scored or assisted on a goal in all seven Leagues Cup games that LAFC has played, all-time.
- Cristian Olivera now has four goals in Leagues Cup 2024, tying him with Bouanga for the second-most in the competition this year.
- Mateusz Bogusz picked up his 16th goal in all competitions this year. He has 13 goals in the league and one in the Open Cup to go along with his two Leagues Cup goals.
