LOS ANGELES — Some wins hit different.
For the Los Angeles Football Club, Wednesday night’s 4-0 triumph over the Colorado Rapids at BMO Stadium was especially relevant to the team’s immediate and long-term plans.
Propelled by goal scorers Mateusz Bogusz, Kei Kamara, Dénis Bouanga and Lewis O’Brien, LAFC advanced to the Leagues Cup final, which will be a rematch of its 2023 MLS Cup title match loss to the Columbus Crew, on Sunday at Lower.com Field.
The Black & Gold also clinched a third trip to CONCACAF’s club competition, the rebranded Champions Cup, as they claimed one of three berths in the continental competition that were up for grabs when the joint MLS-Liga MX competition started on July 26.
“This is the pinnacle. An objective for the club and myself,” said Bouanga, the Leagues Cup’s all-time leading scorer with 12 goals.
LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo described qualifying for CONCACAF as the club’s first priority.
Their sixth match of the tournament in front of an announced crowd of 15,953 nearly got off to a fast start, but Rapids goalkeeper and American international Zach Steffen repelled a Bouanga shot before scrambling to one-arm away a rebound by Kamara in the third minute.
Serving as the Leagues Cup Cinderella story by defeating three top Mexican teams in consecutive knockout games to reach the final four, punctuated by a dramatic penalty kick shootout over top-seeded Club América in a quarterfinal played in Carson, the Rapids kept it scoreless until late in the first half.
In the 42nd minute, Bogusz struck a one-time shot off a pass from defender Jesus Murillo that curled out of Steffen’s reach at the far post.
Three minutes later, Kamara delivered on a first-timer when defender Ryan Hollingshead patiently waited to deliver a simple cross as the striker entered the box.
Kamara gave way at halftime for French center forward Olivier Giroud, making it the earliest he has played since joining LAFC this month.
Seeking his first goal with the team, Giroud was stymied by a diving save from Steffen before putting the ball over the top of the bar a minute later.
As the 1-hour mark approached, LAFC found a third goal when Giroud headed away a Colorado corner kick and the ball fell to Bouanga. The French winger dribbled across the field in a dead sprint from his 18-yard box, ultimately besting Steffen with a left-footed shot.
LAFC notched one more for good measure in the 74th minute courtesy of O’Brien’s first in the Englishman’s second appearance with the club.
Unlike Colorado, which dropped a seventh straight game at BMO Stadium, Columbus has held the upper hand against LAFC, including a 5-1 destruction last month in L.A. that ended the Black & Gold’s club-record 13 game unbeaten streak. That result stands as LAFC’s lone loss in its previous 22 matches dating to the beginning of May.
Columbus earned its berth in the tournament final with a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union in Wednesday’s other semifinal.
More to come on this story.
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