As Dénis Bouanga received the ball in the 65th minute of Tuesday night’s Concacadf Champions League quarterfinal in Vancouver, it had been more than 150 minutes of game time since LAFC’s last goal.
Bouanga’s next touch ended that drought, and put LAFC in front. A few more nifty ones from the competition’s leading scorer tripled that advantage ten minutes later. And when the dust finally settled in BC Place — or, technically, black turf pellets — the visitors had their away goals and a 3-0 first-leg victory.
It was the Black and Gold’s first win in Vancouver in more than four years, and the second-half avalanche moves them one step closer to their second trip to the CCL semifinals.
Big Game Bouanga
Need a big goal? Denis Bouanga is your first call.
After pouring in a hat trick to open the Round of 16 in Costa Rica, Bouanga answered the bell once again. He broke the deadlock in the 55th with a screamer from more than 30 yards out, rifled off the bottom of the crossbar and into the back of the net.
That made it four goals in three Champions League games and nine goal contributions across all competitions – the most from any MLS player this season. But his night was far from done.
“If I can be honest with you,” Cherundolo said, “I thought he was quite poor up until that goal. And after that, he was much better.”
Six minutes later, Bouanga wreaked havoc in the press, forcing a turnover just outside the top of the box. Kwadwo Opoku pounced on the loose ball in the box and slotted it away to double the advantage.
Bouanga, just 10 minutes from his first moment of brilliance, went to work in his yellow boots once again. Moving to his right, Bouanga slammed on the brakes, dropped his defender with a Cruyff turn and beat the keeper near post with another missile into the top of the goal.
“I see no reason why this should stop,” Cherundolo said. “He can continue in this manner as long as he stays healthy. He’s a very important player for our squad after losing our No. 9 last season.”
That’s now, following Wednesday's performance, 11 goal contributions across all competitions in 2023 for the Gabonese international – no other MLS player has more than eight. Bouanga has scored or assisted on every goal LAFC has scored away from home this season, and he’s been the sole danger creator on many of them.
Goals in big moments have been Bouanga’s calling card since joining LAFC last summer. He’s racked up 11 goals in the Black and Gold shirt, seven of which have come in knockout competitions, and one of the four that didn’t was his Supporters’ Shield-clinching goal at Portland last season.
The dam finally burst
It’d been nearly a month since LAFC scored multiple games against a side fielding all 11 players. It’d been equally as long since Cherundolo had expressed satisfaction post-match with his team’s attacking performance.
A lack of “patience,” needing to find their “rhythm,” too many long balls, not enough cohesion. Those have been the buzzwords week in, week out for the Black and Gold for the last four weeks.
That all changed Wednesday night, or at least for 10 key minutes in the second half. Whether it was merely Bouanga willing them forward or not, the goals came in a hurry for the Black and Gold.
“In the beginning of the second half, Vancouver actually did play a little better and we stopped connecting passes," Cherundolo observed. "But as soon as we started moving the ball again, the game was in complete control, and in no ways did I feel we could lose this match tonight.”
While it truly was a moment of brilliance that delivered the opener, Bouanga didn’t enjoy all of that space by accident. Opoku and Kellyn Acosta had pushed up the right and left attacking channels while Hollingshead had just made an overlapping run down the right side, allowing Vela to drop back with the ball and find Bouanga in acres of space in the middle of the field.
On the second, Bouanga’s hard work in the press was only rewarded with a goal because Opoku was alert to the situation. If caught flat-footed, he likely loses the foot race to the loose ball, and the lead likely remains at one.
It’s certainly another piece of skill from Bouanga to make it three, but it still didn’t come without its own bit of assistance. Tim Tillman, after receiving the ball out wide, leverages his ability on the ball to push his defender just far enough up the field to open a passing window. He calmly slid it through right to the inside of Bouanga’s right foot, allowing him to open up and go to work.
“At times,” Cherundolo said, “things get a little too individual or complicated. We are at our best when we are connecting more passes and finding Denis in better positions to run at players in the box.”
The spotlight will be Bouanga’s – after those three goals, he deserves every bit of it and more – but there were flashes of a well-oiled machine within those individual explosions. 572 accurate passes is by far the most in a game this season for LAFC, a sign of a team finding its patience and picking its spots, allowing them to unload on opposition sides like we saw Tuesday night in Vancouver.
The job's not finished
Three weeks ago, LAFC returned home to BMO Stadium with a three-goal advantage over Alajuelense. The lead seemed insurmountable – and ultimately proved to be – but not without some added stress.
For more than half an hour, the visitors were within one goal of forcing extra time before Carlos Vela slammed the door in the 83rd minute. As easy as it would’ve been to lift their foot off the gas after the opening leg, but that’s not even what happened.
The Black and Gold dominated in possession and enjoyed more than the lion’s share of the quality chances. But even still, the fate of the tie hung in the balance for more than a third of the proceedings.
“Congratulations may be a bit premature,” Cherundolo said of Wednesday night’s victory. “We still haven’t advanced, so this is a two-leg matchup … We had the same result against our last opponent in the last round – Alajuelense, and it got a little shaky at home.”
These CCL games are unpredictable. LAFC erased a two-goal deficit against León in the Round of 16 on the way to the final in 2020. Vancouver has already proven they can score goals in this competition – hanging five on Real España in the first leg of the previous round.
Especially when you take a look at the surrounding fixtures, this tie is far from over. Next week’s return leg with the Whitecaps is sandwiched between an Western Conference Final rematch with Austin on Saturday and El Trafico in Carson the following Sunday.
“The games against Galaxy are always interesting,” Cherundolo said, “and usually fun to watch. But our focus right now is on Austin. And then after Austin, it’ll be on Vancouver and advancing in this competition, which we really want to do. Then we’ll deal with Galaxy."
The messaging will never confirm that this result might change how the second leg plays out, or that Cherundolo’s side might approach the next week differently as they now sit three goals to the good. But history, however, can shed some light.
LAFC dropped the aforementioned return leg with Alajuelense 2-1 at home – its only loss in all competitions in 2023. This past weekend in Colorado, they turned in a sluggish, disjointed performance — resulting in a scoreless draw — ahead of this very contest.
If you feel that sigh of relief coming, let it out. That performance in Vancouver certainly warrants it. But this team has not proven itself immune to a classic look ahead game, and with El Trafico looming on the horizon, the conditions certainly would once again seem ripe come next Tuesday.
