LAFC came into their match on Sunday riding high. Unbeaten in nine matches. Place secured in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. Three clean sheets in the last four meetings against Sporting KC. And the last home loss to the visiting club was all the way back in 2021.
But Sporting KC has been on a streak of their own, trying to get back into the Western Conference playoff picture half-way through the season. Coming off a 3-1 road win against Houston Dynamo, they’ve only lost one of their last five games.
Only one of those streaks could continue, and LAFC came out the winners.
Although the home side seemed largely in control to begin the game, it was the visitors who got on the board first—with time running out in the first half, Manu Garcia set up Dejan Joveljic for a 12-yard dart that LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris couldn’t chase down, scoring in the 39th minute.
LAFC turned right back around, and nearly equalized, but center back Jansen Miller managed to get a boot on a Denis Bouanga shot, saving the lead—temporarily.
With first half stoppage time running out, Eddie Segura headed a Bouanga corner kick inside the left post, equalizing the match and scoring his first goal since 2020.
Revitalized, the home team kept up the pressure to start the second half, consistently defusing Sporting KC drives, and immediately heading back to the opposing side. SKC goalkeeper John Pulskamp was kept busy, deflecting shots while others ricocheted off the posts.
But in the 57th minute, Bouanga drew a foul inside the box. He buried the kick for his eighth goal of the year, and put the home team up by one.
Not satisfied, LAFC kept up the pressure, but Pulskamp kept pace, despite some mayhem as the defense fell apart, and the home team took multiple shots from within the goal box before Kansas City finally managed to punt it away.
With two minutes of stoppage time left, it looked like SKC might at least get out with a respectable loss, but L.A. wasn’t through yet. Bouanga broke free and passed wide to Mark Delgado, then took the return pass, dancing around two SKC defenders before feeding it to Olivier Giroud. Giroud slotted it past Pulskamp, and the home crowd, who had been atypically silent in protest of the recent actions by ICE and the National Guard in Los Angeles, finally erupted into cheers.
Sporting KC has three home matches to close out the month, beginning with FC Dallas next Saturday night.
LAFC, on the other hand, packs their bags for Hotlanta, where they will face English Premier League club Chelsea on the 16th.
Article: JIm Sabo
Photos: Jim Sabo / Art Cordero
