July 31, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
Los Angeles FC News Release
The Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) officially qualified for the Leagues Cup Round of 32 thanks to a 2-2 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps on Tuesday night at BMO Stadium. Late goals from Kei Kamara and Mateusz Bogusz helped the home side pick up the point it needed to guarantee a top two finish in Group West 7, and a spot in the knockout stages of the competition, despite falling 4-2 in the ensuing shootout.
LAFC picked up a point to leave the club with four points from its two Group Stage games. LAFC’s Round-of-32 opponent will be decided on Saturday, August 3. LAFC currently tops Group West 7 with four points while Vancouver has two points and Club Tijuana, which LAFC defeated 3-0 on Friday night, has no points.
Vancouver opened the scoring in the fifth minute thanks to a long-range strike from Sebastian Berhalter. Twelve minutes later, the visitors would score again as Ranko Veselinović headed in a Berhalter corner kick to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead at the half.
Throughout the second half, LAFC threw numbers forward in search of a way back into the game, but did not cut into the Whitecaps’ advantage until the 88th minute. Kei Kamara, who has 147 regular-season goals in his MLS career, scored his first Leagues Cup goal in an LAFC shirt, heading in a Denis Bouanga cross to make the score 2-1.
LAFC would continue to push for an equalizer, and it came in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time. Sergi Palencia’s right-wing cross found David Martínez at the top of the box, and Martínez’s left-footed volley bounced high into the box, allowing Bogusz to sneak in behind the Whitecaps defense and head the ball past Vancouver goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer to tie the score, 2-2.
The match would be decided on penalties, with the Whitecaps converting all four of their attempts to win the shootout 4-2.
NEWS & NOTES
With the draw, LAFC is now 18-5-6 in all competitions in 2024. The club is 14-5-5 in MLS play, 3-0-0 in the U.S. Open Cup and now 1-0-1 in Leagues Cup.
At BMO Stadium, LAFC is 12-1-4 in 2024.
LAFC has now faced Vancouver five times outside of the MLS regular season, going 4-0-1 in those matches.
LAFC is 3-1-1 all-time in Leagues Cup, including 3-0-1 at BMO Stadium. In those four home games, LAFC has outscored its opponents 16-3.
Mateusz Bogusz’s 95th-minute goal was LAFC’s latest-ever goal in Leagues Cup and equals the club’s latest goal this season. Denis Bouanga also scored in the 95th…
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