LAFC’s 2024 season will continue after a chess match against the Vancouver Whitecaps in Los Angeles on Friday night. It was Poland international Mateusz Bogusz who played the hero with his second-half goal to put L.A. ahead for good in the 1-0 win in Game 3 of the best-of-three series to open the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Denis Bouanga, who scored 20 goals in the regular season for LAFC, had a goal-scoring opportunity hit the side-netting in the eighth minute as the hosts looked to pounce early. Despite coming in with all the momentum in their favor after their 3-0 win in Game 2, the Whitecaps were unable to find the net throughout a mostly dominant first half. Brian White had one great shot denied by Hugo Lloris, then went wide left on a second just before halftime.
LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo then changed course in the second half with a new formation and inserted Olivier Giroud, who made an immediate impact. But it wasn’t until the 62nd minute when Bogusz was able to put the Black and Gold ahead and eventually into the second round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
LAFC will now face the Seattle Sounders, who advanced after two straight wins over the Houston Dynamo, in the single-elimination Western Conference semifinals on the weekend of Nov. 23-24.
Most of the chatter around the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs has been in direct opposition to the best-of-three format, but with three more elimination games Saturday it’s tough to say it isn’t yielding plenty of excitement.
Here’s how the match unfolded in real time:
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