Bouanga makes unexpected appearance to nudge LAFC past FC Dallas

LOS ANGELES – On a night when LAFC nearly quadrupled up FC Dallas on xG, 2.15-0.58, it took just 0.03 of that off Denis Bouanga's right foot to push the hosts over the finish line. 

The underlying numbers suggest dominance. The smattering of VAR decisions, a missed penalty, one goal from an impossible angle, and the heart rates of the 3252 reflected a messier affair — but thanks to Dénis Bouanga's surprise cameo, LAFC overcame FC Dallas 2-1 to continue its strong early-season start. 

“I felt that we were a bit off rhythm,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo ascertained following the match. “I also thought we were a bit sloppy with our passing… There is definitely room for improvement. It’s a game we will certainly analyze and take some valuable lessons from both sides of the ball.”

Carlos Vela’s potential go-ahead penalty slammed off the crossbar in the 79th minute, appearing to give FC Dallas a let-off and a valuable road point. But thanks to Bouanga's tight-angled 84th-minute shot through the legs of two FCD players — former LAFC center back Sebastian Ibeagha and goalkeeper Maarten Paes — all ended well for the Black & Gold. 

“Luck and good fortune was on our side tonight," Cherundolo offered. "And we needed it for the three points.”

Circling the globe

Earlier this week, the list of LAFC players who would be away on international duty was made official, and included Bouanga along with Ecuador's Jose Cifuentes and Diego Palacios. 

That list was then confirmed by head coach Steve Cherundolo after training on Thursday.

At 6:45 p.m. PT on Saturday, the official LAFC Twitter account sent out the starting lineup graphic. It included the first 11 and six players available off the bench. As expected, none of the players out for international dity above appeared on the graphic.

Then 22 minutes later – 7:07 p.m. PT for those keeping score at home – comes another tweet that reads, “Correction: Denis Bouanga is available off the bench.”

Less than 48 hours prior, Bouanga played all 90 minutes in a 1-0 win for Gabon in an Africa Cup of Nations group stage contest. Early on Saturday, he boarded a connecting flight in Turkey, bound for the City of Angels.

Bouanga hopped off the plane at LAX at 5:27 p.m. local time. By 6:46 – one minute after the original lineup tweet – Bouanga arrived at the stadium. 

Both Cherundolo and Bouanga confirmed there was a plan in place to add him to the squad should he arrive in time. Bounga said if he was available, he was going to play, and that the proceedings may not have been as hectic as they appear on the outside.

“He slept 10 hours on a 13-hour flight here,” said Maxime Crepeau – translating for Bouanga, “so everything went super well.”

In the 65th minute, roughly 203 minutes after landing at LAX, the number 99 lit up green on the fourth official’s board. Met with a roaring ovation, Bouanga sprinted on, and LAFC remarkably had its first-choice front three together. 

Bouanga has been a lightning rod since joining LAFC last season, and his 25 minutes on Saturday night were no different. But this time, lightning struck without a cloud in the sky.

A Vela corner kick sailed over everyone in the box, and Bouanga raced onto it where the left side of the box meets the endline. He took one touch to collect, and fired a curling ball that snuck through the legs of both Ibeagha and Paes for an improbable goal. 

Bouanga’s description of the goal needed no translation. He offered a simple head nod when asked if he was trying to pass and a smiling shake of the head when asked if he was going for goal. 

But give him some credit — after all, he disembarked from a 13-hour flight just over three hours prior. Bouanga’s persistence to take the field tonight was no doubt an offering to the lords of this sport, and they justly smiled back at him in the dying embers of tonight’s contest.

“He said, ‘Hell yeah. We’ll take it,” Crepeau translated for Bouanga.

“It speaks volumes for his character and his attitude,” Cherundolo said. “It also speaks for his professionalism. Dénis is in great form, and you can see he loves being here and playing here and he was able to contribute once again.”

That’s now four goal contributions in four MLS games for the man who lit the 2022 playoffs on fire. Bouanga said that “deep down” he believes LAFC can go back to back, and thanks to a goal sure to be unlike any other for the rest of his career, his club took a massive step towards that feat. 

Tillman: 'I just took it'

Much has been made, and rightfully so, about the number of departures for LAFC this offseason. Ibeagha – who returned to L.A. tonight with Dallas – Latif Blessing, Gareth Bale, Christian Tello and Danny Musovski to not even name them all.

Congested fixtures and the international window have thrust a pair of newcomers into the fire right from the jump. Stipe Buik made his second start in four league games tonight, and Tim Tillman made his third in as many contests.

“It’s just the way we’re playing,” Tilman said of what’s allowed him to fit in so well. “It fits me really well, and, of course, everybody in the club helped me so much.”

The pair now account for three of LAFC’s last four goals in league games, thanks to an opener scored by Tillman just three minutes in.

After an avalanche of pressure forced the ball back to Paes, his clearance was an errant one. Mahala Opoku chested it down, and Tillman won the footrace to the loose ball. 

He took just one touch before firing it back across the goal, tucking it inside the far post to give LAFC the early lead. 

“We were planning to press high,” Tillman said. “We did that in that moment early in the game. [The defender] missed it, and I just took it and went for the goal.”

"I will say we didn’t play good the first 15 minutes of the match and that goal [LAFC] scored is what resulted because of it," FC Dallas head coach Nico Estevez assessed post-match. "We have to be critical and take a look at ourselves first.

He also added, "We came in sloppy, afraid and slow in the beginning of the match. They were onto us mentally, physically and intensity wise. Our backline, movement and actions were not ideal at first. From the seventh to the 10th minute, I was a bit more proactive on the bench and I was yelling more than I usually do. I was telling them to think about what I said to them in the locker room before the match, but I don't think it worked as well. I just wanted them to show more energy; the game plan was clear." 

On this same field two weeks ago, Tillman and Buik became just the fourth and fifth LAFC players to score in their first start with the club. Only four players in the black and gold had scored a goal at a younger age than Buik when he netted his.

Buik was everywhere in his 65 minutes tonight. He’s comfortably generating the second-most xG on this team at 0.56, and if it wasn’t for Vela’s penalty tonight, he’d be challenging the captain for the team lead.

The 20-year-old from Croatia won two-thirds of his duels on the ground against Dallas, completing 100% of his dribbles on the night. On three separate occasions, he came within inches of creating a truly dangerous moment in and around the box. 

Tillman wound up in the scoresheet – his second goal in this young season – adding an element to this side it didn't have in 2022. His ability to step into a midfield that struggled last year when even one of its sharpied-in three – Cifuentes, Acosta and Sanchez – was absent is just the buoy LAFC need, especially as they navigated an exhausting early season schedule. 

“Steve is a great coach,” Tillman said. “I love the way he’s playing [us]. He thinks we fit his system.”

March madness

No team has repeated as Supporters’ Shield winners since the Galaxy back in 2010 and 2011. For that matter, the last two winners didn’t even qualify for the playoffs the following season.

It’s a task often complicated by an unforgiving schedule with CCL matches, roster turnover and a league that’s as unpredictable as any in the world.

But, on a night where LAFC only started five players from the first eleven in last year’s MLS Cup victory, the defending champs proved themselves poised to rise above those cut-rate expectations.

10 points for the Black & Gold through four games is the best mark for a defending Shield winner since FC Dallas got eight points to start the 2017 season (en route to alternating wins and ties in its first 10 matches).

No team since has managed to eclipse four in the years between, much less reach double digits.

It may seem as though a March contest should be the furthest thing from a must-win for a side that entered the day as one of only five remaining unbeatens. But tonight might have been a “gotta have it” game lurking in the shadows. 

It will be another month before LAFC plays another match with this much rest – a full week – on either side. 35 minutes into this contest, LAFC held a one-goal edge and were playing a man up. 

They played the final 26 minutes with their high-powered front three of Vela, Opoku and Bouanga all on the field together. But despite enjoying the lion’s share of the quality chances, LAFC still needed another to secure all three points. 

“These are the games that are very important to win,” Cherundolo said. “When you’re not playing at your best and you can still win, it’s a great sign for the group. It’s an important obstacle, a hurdle to get over because Dallas is a very good team.”

Bouanga delivered it – given the above context, you probably could’ve gotten some incredible odds on that occurrence – and LAFC ended the night in lockstep with the pace they set a season ago. 

The season's end is still far away, but the importance of tonight can not be overstated. 

Bouanga’s late goal in Portland to clinch the Shield last year was an indelible moment in ast year’s chase. There will surely be one similar as the 2023 campaign nears its conclusion. 

Moments like those, however, don’t happen without nights like these.