LOS ANGELES – On a day where the first 10,000 fans in attendance received a commemorative “Western Conference Champions” banner – complete with the date and final score – LAFC paid homage to the giveaway, trouncing Austin FC 3-0 at BMO Stadium.
The victory ordains Steve Cherundolo as the fastest MLS coach to reach 25 wins in the post-shootout era, besting the record in six fewer games than it took to set it. More importantly for him and his team, it’s 14 points out of a possible 18 to start the season, leaving them one of just two remaining unbeatens in the league.
“Extremely happy with the way the guys performed in Vancouver and to turn around in a couple days time,” Cherundolo said, “to perform disciplined, to defend as a group, to defend in a smart manner and not give up much at all.”
All three came off the yellow cleats of Denis Bouanga, who has now scored or assisted on the last seven goals for the Black and Gold. A day that began with “Dale Black and Gold” was capped with chants of “M-V-P” and one of the most resounding ovations for an individual performance in this stadium’s history.
Expected Bouanga
You know he’s going to score. I know he’s going to score. Everyone knows he’s going to score.
First came a one-touch, right-footed strike in the 40th minute that beat Brad Stuver to his near post – finished off with a front flip as tidy as the finish. Next, off a failed headed clearance on a Kellyn Acosta corner, was a first-time volley as the looping ball found his right foot.
His final act came from an angle not dissimilar to his impossible finish against Dallas. This time at the edge of the six-yard box, Bouanga put his right foot through cross from Sergi Palencia – meeting it perfectly at the bottom of its trajectory – to secure the hat trick.
“It’s a magical moment,” Bouanga said. “It’s not given to everyone. I’m really happy to share that with the fans who come to see the games.”
It’s the second hat trick of 2023 for Bouanga, and he’s tallied at least three goal contributions on three different occasions for LAFC. As Cherundolo has repeatedly noted his side’s struggles with attacking “cohesion,” “rhythm” and “patience,” the Gabonese international has been their deliverance time and time again.
In both MLS and Champions League play, LAFC has scored 18 goals in 2023. Denis Bouanga has scored or assisted on 14 of them – yes, 14 goal contributions in just nine games.
He entered the weekend having amassed just 1.7 expected goals in MLS play this season, and after adding just 0.38 to that total on Saturday, he’s now by himself in second in the Golden Boot race with six goals in six games this season.
“He was in the same spaces last year that he is this year,” Cherundolo said. “It’s just a little more frequent now than it was last season… The guy just scores, and he’s a threat on the dribble. He's a threat off crosses.”
To endorse the spectacle of his finishes even further, the following are the expected goal values – most recent listed first – assigned to his last four finishes in league games: 0.12, 0.07, 0.08, 0.03. And that 0.12 – his third goal of the night – is arguably the most impressive of the four.
At some point, the regression surely has to come. The goal-scoring numbers have to come down to match the underlying numbers. Right?
Not necessarily. Sebastian Driussi – on the other side of Saturday’s contest – was the poster child for outperforming xG, tearing up the league on a consistent basis with his lethal finishing ability. And, for Cherundolo, there’s still another level for him to find.
“If we could teach him how to set up goals more often and a little better,” Cherundolo said, “then he’s hands down the best player in the league. But there is still room to improve and that’s a scary thing.”
The thought of Bouanga taking his game up yet another notch is certainly a terrifying one for the rest of the league. As the 3252 endorsed with a showering of “M-V-P” chants this weekend, he’s surely the frontrunner to bring home the award.
Depth on depth on depth
Cherundolo said Friday ahead of the matchup with Austin that he was “lucky” to have “three amazing eights.” At this stage of the season, he said it’s not about starters and non-starters, rather rotating and navigating the season as best fit at each juncture.
For most of the early going, that’s taken the form of routine Tim Tillman starts – alongside Kellyn Acosta with Illie Sánchez behind them. It allowed Cherundolo to spell José Cifuentes – who had been dealing with a sickness during the Colorado and Vancouver trips and was away from the team on international duty before that.
Cifuentes was one of just three LAFC players to rack up double-digit goal contributions a season ago, finishing as the club’s third-leading scorer. His place in this team is written in Sharpie, but Tillman has shown he is more than up to the task in his stead.
Saturday evening, it was all three of Cherundolo’s lauded No. 8s, with Acosta stepping back into defensive midfield in relief of Sánchez. Even after conceding the lion’s share of possession over the first half hour, his midfield responded to an in-game adjustment and by the end of 90 minutes, the numbers were nearly dead even.
“It’s just a simple shift in midfield,” Cherundolo said of the change. “Just with two sixes and one 10 instead of our classic flat three – six and two eights. It’s a small adjustment to help get a little more pressure on the ball and break up their little box.”
But it wasn’t just the middle of the field, as LAFC’s depth was on full display up and down the lineup this weekend. None of Carlos Vela, Ryan Hollingshead, Jesús Murillo, John McCarthy or Sánchez were in the starting eleven, yet the Black and Gold still took care of business to the tune of three points.
Without Vela, LAFC is without its primary option on set pieces as well as essential danger creation in wide areas. While also spelling Sánchez, Acosta gives them elite service on set pieces even when Vela needs rotation.
Stipe Buik was dynamic in wide spaces once again, and while the end product hasn’t come around just yet, the underlying production is there. He’s outpacing even Bouanga on xG per 90 minutes, and his ball progression keyed a number of transition opportunities on the evening.
Palencia turned in yet another solid performance, winning his duels and providing consistent service down the right side. He spelled Diego Palacios when he was on international duty last month, and he was able to give Holingshead some much-needed rest for much of this game.
For the first time this season, McCarthy spent his MLS Saturday on the gray cushioned seats of the LAFC bench. Eldin Jakupovic manned the posts for the Black and Gold and made a pair of impressive diving saves as he posted their fourth league clean sheet this season.
“Something special,” Jakupovic said of his first MLS game. “The fans are unbelievable… For me today, was just keep calm. I trust the team in front of me.”
LAFC commemorated its Western Conference Final victory over Austin today, and even though less than half of that day’s eleven started on Saturday, it still turned in a performance the scoreline would suggest as identical.
Blinders on
Saturday evening had all the makings of a look-ahead game for LAFC. CCL quarterfinal leg two on Tuesday. El Trafico away on Sunday. Even as this rivalry – if you’ll allow me to call it such – continues to grow.
In order to stack trophies, this is what it has to look like on a game-to-game basis. Certain competitions will always be assigned certain priorities, but in order to really fill the trophy cabinet, the eleven on the field need to play up to the “no trap games” messaging – no matter the contest.
That’s exactly what happened today. Despite making six changes from Wednesday’s starting lineup at Vancouver in the CCL, they still managed to play Austin FC off the field.
“I think we would all forgive every single player in that locker room if they just did a little less,” Cherundolo said. “But that’s not what this team is, and that’s not how they think. I love every minute of coaching them because they want to win. They want to win every silly game in training and, obviously, every competitive match we play.”
Albeit in a small sample size, it’s a performance LAFC had yet to prove they could deliver early on this season. Holding a 3-0 lead on aggregate, they dropped their only match of the season to Alajuelense in the CCL round of 16. Ahead of Wednesday’s CCL quarterfinal against Vancouver, they slugged their way to a 0-0 draw in Colorado.
Following the win over the Whitecaps earlier this week, Cherundolo insisted – despite the circle-on-the-calendar games around the corner – the focus was solely on Austin. Winning more duels, intercepting more passes and peppering the Verde goal, the depth in his squad proved that to be true on Saturday.
“They will do their part,” Cherundolo said. “They will recover, and we will field a fresh, competitive and hungry team Tuesday night to win a game here.”
