LAFC shuts out short-handed Rapids for 1st win in a month

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Football Club has ground to make up over the second half of the MLS season if it wants to win the Western Conference for the third time in four years under head coach Steve Cherundolo.

LAFC (8-5-5, 29 points) didn’t let a good chance go to waste on Wednesday night, handling the Colorado Rapids, who were forced to play with 10 men for most of the match, 3-0, in front of an announced crowd of 22,230 at BMO Stadium.

Attackers Denis Bouanga, Nathan Ordaz and Javairô Dilrosun powered LAFC to its first win since June 8. For the second time this season, LAFC’s three starting forwards got on the scoresheet.

Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris returned to the starting lineup after missing one league contest following the conclusion of the FIFA Club World Cup, making a pair of saves to preserve his sixth shutout of the season.

When LAFC last crossed paths with Colorado in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League series at the end of February, the Rapids accused defender Sergi Palencia of using discriminatory language during an exchange with center back Chidozie Awaziem.

Within a week the confederation cleared Palencia of wrongdoing and the two teams went about their business. But months after the fact, the Spanish defender and the Rapids quickly mixed it up again.

Six minutes after kickoff, Palenica jumped for a header in front of the Colorado bench. When 20-year-old Rapids defender Jackson Travis barreled into Palencia, the Mississippi native received a straight red card from referee Jair Marrufo for direct contact to Palencia’s face with his left arm at speed.

Watching in front of the bench, the action that resulted in the earliest red card by an LAFC opponent did not look malicious to Cherundolo.

“I don’t think there was any real intent there to hurt Sergi by any means,” Cherundolo said. “Just a hard play and the ref made his decision. He could have called a yellow card, too, but he made his decision. That’s why they’re refs and we’re not.”

Down a man, Rapids head coach Chris Armas removed forward Darren Yapi for fullback Keegan Rosenberry and the visitors sank into a low block to limit LAFC’s chances, ceding possession or any semblance of an offensive attack in the process.

“Playing in a controlled manner against a deep block has not been very easy for us,” Cherundolo said. “But tonight I think the guys did an excellent job of playing with control but also the right time to create some dynamic movements in the final third.”

Colorado (7-10-5, 26 points) didn’t take a shot on goal until the 68th minute and by then LAFC was comfortably ahead, a welcome change from recent results when the team fell behind in seven of its past eight games.

Scoring once over its previous 360 minutes of game action, including three group stage games at the Club World Cup and a 1-0 defeat in LAFC’s previous appearance at home on June 29 against Vancouver, breaking the Rapids down wasn’t so simple.

Compared to its futile performance against Vancouver, when individual attempts outweighed collective effort, “it’s a really good step in the right direction for us,” Cherundolo said.

Bouanga, the man most responsible for LAFC getting on the scoreboard the past three years, cracked open the game doing what he does best in the 40th minute.

Shrugging off a defender at midfield, Bouanga sprinted toward the Rapids’ net, reached the box, split two more Colorado players, and went down after being fouled by Andreas Maxso.

Bouanga’s ninth goal of the season marked his 50th regular-season finish in 87 MLS appearances.

A hammered shot into the upper portion of the net made the Frenchman the 15th MLS player to score that many goals in fewer than 90 league games, joining Carlos Vela (50 goals in 61 games) as LAFC players to accomplish the feat.

Bouanga tied Vela for the most game-winning goals in an LAFC uniform at 19, and with 83 goals in all competitions is 10 behind the Mexican legend for the most in club history.

“I hope to get the numbers of a player I consider an icon of the football world and LAFC,” Bouanga said through an interpreter, assistant coach Marc Dos Santos. “If I have the chance to pass those numbers I want to keep on doing it to become an icon in the club myself.”

LAFC sealed the three-point night early in the second half when Ordaz, playing at center forward, tapped in his fourth goal of the year with a rebound off a Dilrosun shot.

Before the hour mark, Dilrosun, on loan from Club América from June 11 through July 24, scored his first goal for LAFC on a left-footed finish to the far post as Bouanga and Timothy Tillman assisted the Dutch winger inside the box.

Dilrosun, 26, is the 14th player to score for LAFC this year.

“It’s good for the team because everybody participates in the attack,” said Bouanga, who received his third straight selection as an MLS All-Star. “We’re not just focusing on one player and it’s important that that keeps up.”