LAFC dominates Rapids to reach Leagues Cup final against Columbus
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.
LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo described qualifying for CONCACAF as the club’s first Leagues Cup priority. One more win will allow them to begin the Champions Cup in the Round of 16.
“This is the pinnacle. An objective for the club and myself,” said Bouanga, the Leagues Cup’s all-time leading scorer with 12 goals.
As for the final, “we’re eager to go back,” Bouanga added.
LAFC’s sixth Leagues Cup match, 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 shot by Bouanga before scrambling to one-arm away a rebound attempt from Kamara in the third minute.
Serving as the tournament’s Cinderella story after defeating three top Mexican teams in successive knockout games, the Rapids punctuated their arrival at this stage with a dramatic penalty kick shootout victory over top-seeded Club América in a quarterfinal played at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson.
Hoping to do the same to LAFC, the Rapids, ranked 46th out of the 47 teams in the tournament, kept it scoreless until late in the first half.
In the 42nd minute, however, Bogusz struck a one-time shot from just outside the box that curled out of Steffen’s reach at the far post thanks to defender Jesus Murillo’s first assist of the year.
Three minutes later, Kamara delivered on a first-time attempt when defender Ryan Hollingshead patiently waited to deliver a simple cross as the striker entered the box.
Kamara gave way for Olivier Giroud at halftime, making it the earliest the French icon entered a match since joining LAFC this month. Seeking his first goal with his new team, Giroud came close several times but couldn’t convert.
As the 1-hour mark approached, though, LAFC’s third goal took shape when Giroud cleared a Colorado corner kick. His headed ball fell to Bouanga and the French winger busted up the field in a dead sprint, dribbling from his defensive third into the Rapids’ box before beating Steffen with his left foot.
LAFC notched one more for good measure in the 74th minute courtesy of O’Brien’s first goal with the club.
“I’ve heard there’s some unfinished business between LAFC and Columbus,” said Lewis, a 25-year-old English midfielder who reveled in the possibility of playing in his second career final. “So hopefully we can turn the result around from last season.”
Switching from a back line of four, which was the formation versus Columbus in the MLS Cup, LAFC outscored opponents 16-1 in a quartet of Leagues Cup contests that featured three center backs flanked by a pair of wingbacks.
“Columbus does a great job of rotating players in and out of positions, hitting triangles and finding pockets and trying to disorganize defenses,” Cherundolo said. “It’s going to take our very best but I’m very pleased with the way we’ve been defending and I think it will be an exciting matchup.”
Unlike Colorado, which dropped its seventh straight game at BMO Stadium, Columbus has held the upper hand against LAFC, including a 5-1 destruction at BMO Stadium last month 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 back to the beginning of May.
Sunday’s final will be the sixth match for LAFC with a trophy on the line since its expansion season of 2018, going 1-4 in previous appearances, including three tries that fell short last year, ending the season in disappointing fashion in Columbus.
LAFC’s lone celebration came in 2022 with a classic MLS Cup against Philadelphia, which lost to Columbus, 3-1, on Wednesday and will host the Rapids in a third-place match.
“I know our group is looking forward to a rematch, and I think we’re focused on just the opportunity and not so much about any sort of revenge or trying to beat Columbus,” Cherundolo said. “None of that really matters.”
Bogusz bends it into the bottom corner to give us the lead before the half.#LAFCvCOL | #LeaguesCup2024 pic.twitter.com/OvlTYIO5b6
— LAFC (@LAFC) August 22, 2024
Make it
Kei Kamara buries the cross from Ryan Hollingshead #LAFCvCOL | #LeaguesCup2024 pic.twitter.com/HhQC0ZCw7T
— LAFC (@LAFC) August 22, 2024
Can't catch him
Denis Bouanga dribbles the length of the field to score #LAFCvCOL 3-0 pic.twitter.com/0ldbUyOfuJ
— LAFC (@LAFC) August 22, 2024
First Home Match
First GoalLewis O'Brien makes it four!#LAFCvCOL 4-0 pic.twitter.com/BOtysDNgmq
— LAFC (@LAFC) August 22, 2024
"Job not done."
Mateusz Bogusz and @LAFC are ready for their rematch against the @ColumbusCrew — this time for the @LeaguesCup title: https://t.co/2B0G1yfNq9 pic.twitter.com/XxiZcZ58Rh
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 22, 2024
One more.
Columbus pic.twitter.com/XezUAWxoHK
— LAFC (@LAFC) August 22, 2024
They all count the same
First one in Black & Gold for @Lewis_OBrien98 pic.twitter.com/UkdDSrakj1
— LAFC (@LAFC) August 22, 2024