LOS ANGELES — It took them long enough, but No. 99 scored his 99th and the red-hot Los Angeles Football Club managed to secure a fifth consecutive victory Sunday at BMO Stadium.
Suffering through a cold shower for 85 minutes because of downtrodden Atlanta United’s atypical defensive-minded tactics, Denis Bouanga finally got on the end of one to bag his 24th goal and lock down a 1-0 win that guaranteed LAFC (16-7-8, 56 points) home field advantage in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs later this month.
Bouanga’s finish, tying Lionel Messi for the most goals in Major League Soccer this season, came after a lofted ball by Mark Delgado into the box was headed away by an Atlanta defender. However, it fell directly into Bouanga’s path and his first-time shot near the six-yard box squeezed between the legs of goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert.
“This sport can be funny,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said. “These games usually end in a tie. Earlier on in the season, we lost these games to Austin at home on a set piece. To Portland. To Vancouver. To San Diego, where you are completely dominant in xG, in shots, in possession, in moments in front of the opponent’s goal and you’ve lost them. And tonight we won. That is a very good sign.”
Unable to score during the opening half for the first time in seven games, LAFC was short on space as Atlanta (5-15-12, 27 points) sat back and crowded the middle.
Struggling to combine, Bouanga and his superstar teammate Son Heung-min appeared human for much of the match, which is saying something since they entered fan appreciation day with an MLS record 17 straight goals.
The stop-and-start contest resembled LAFC’s efforts from August rather than its rocket-fuel-charged September, when Cherundolo’s team went 4-0-0 to climb the table and reestablish its MLS Cup contender status.
“It was a good test for us,” defender Ryan Hollingshead said. “That’s gonna be what playoff football looks like here. Teams sitting back like that, trying to make it difficult to break down and catch you on a counterattack. Those games are hard, especially when a team like Atlanta hasn’t done that all season. What we prepared on video is not the way they showed up. They haven’t defended like that all season. They haven’t played that hard all season, which is good.
“In those sorts of games, when they’re sitting 10 guys behind the ball, it’s about being patient, not losing our discipline, not losing our shape, continuing to attack them and eventually the goal will come and it did.”
Starting after taking a hard knock in their last match at St. Louis, goalkeeper Hugo Lloris earned his 11th shutout of the season on one save, passing Tyler Miller for the most games played by a goalkeeper in LAFC history with his 62nd appearance. The win, Lloris’s 35th over the past two seasons, also bested Miller, who played for LAFC in 2018 and 2019.
LAFC extended its shutout streak to 256 minutes.
Closing the weekend slate on Sunday Night Soccer, LAFC was well aware that each of the three Western Conference teams above them — San Diego, Vancouver and Minnesota — won. As had fifth-place Seattle, which stood as the only threat to LAFC’s hope for a top-four seed.
Coming off Player of the Month honors, Bouanga’s 99th eliminated any threat from the Sounders because the Black & Gold needed three points in its last four games to ensure home-field advantage in the best-of-three series.
“We’ve made some runs here since I’ve been at LAFC, and having home-field advantage is crucial,” said Hollingshead, who missed a clear chance at a header to snatch an earlier lead. “We’re definitely not done yet. Having that guaranteed first round is big, but we want to guarantee it through as far as we can.
“It’s a game-changer being in front of our fans, being in L.A. for as many games as possible. That’s what we want.”
The late drama came in Bouanga’s 100th appearance for LAFC, and gave him goals in six straight matches, a personal best, to improve his club record game-winning tally to 23. Bouanga finished with seven shots. He leads MLS with 144, and 69 have hit the target.
Holding games in hand on the teams above them in the standings, LAFC can win the conference for the third time in four years. Only Vancouver controls its fate in the race for the top seed in the Western Conference. The Whitecaps can close the season with 66 points. The best LAFC can do is 65.
Despite the crucial final phase of the regular season, Bouanga will join Son on international duty and miss the next two games (Wednesday at home versus Toronto and next Sunday at Austin). Canadian international Mathieu Choinière and El Salvador’s Nathan Ordaz will also be away with their national teams.
“I fully trust the team,” Bouanga said. “With or without us, we’re going to make it and carry on.”
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