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LAFC Advances to Concacaf Champions League Final

May 3, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Los Angeles FC News Release


The Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) advanced to the final of the Concacaf Champions League with a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Union on Tuesday night at BMO Stadium. LAFC won the series 4-1 on aggregate, having played to a 1-1 draw in the first leg last week in Philadelphia.

Knowing that a win would see the club through to the Champions League Final for the second time in the last four years, LAFC took the lead in the 13th minute when Timothy Tillman scored his first-ever goal in the competition. Ilie Sanchez saw his close-range header saved on the line by Philadelphia goalkeeper Andre Blake, but Tillman was able to react quickest to the rebound and slam it into the open net giving the home side the lead.

The score would stay that way until late in the second half, despite the Union being reduced to 10 men when Olivier Mbazio was sent off for collecting a second yellow card in the 59th minute. However, LAFC finally put the series out of reach in the 82nd minute when Carlos Vela played Mahala Opoku into the box and the Ghanaian forward fired home to double the LAFC lead.

Denis Bouanga, the 2023 Concacaf Champions League leading scorer, rounded out the scoring in the 90th minute, tallying his sixth goal of the competition off a feed from Jose Cifuentes to give his team a 3-0 victory.

John McCarthy, the MVP of MLS Cup against the Union last year, made two saves to keep his fourth clean sheet in six Champions League games this year.

LAFC will face either Tigres UANL or Leon from Mexico's Liga MX in the Champions League Final. The dates and times of the Final will be announced at a later date.

The Black & Gold are back in action in MLS play on Saturday, May 6 when they travel north to take on the San Jose Earthquakes. That game will kick off at 4:30 p.m. and can be seen live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

NEWS & NOTES

LAFC has now advanced to the Concacaf Champions League Final for the second time in club history, having previously reached the Final in 2020.

LAFC is the second team in MLS history to reach the Final of the Concacaf Champions League, or its predecessor, the Concacaf Champions Cup, on multiple occasions.

LAFC is the only MLS club to reach the Final of the Concacaf Champions League since the current format was adopted in 2008.

This was the fourth time in sixth Champions League games this year that LAFC won 3-0.

The Club has outscored opponents 14-3 in the Champions League this year and 30-9 in all competitions this year.

LAFC is 4-1-1 in the Champions League this year and 9-1-4 in all competitions.

Denis Bouanga's late goal was his sixth of the Champions League this season. He scored three times in the Round of 16 against Alajuelense, twice in the quarterfinals against Vancouver and now once in the semifinals.

Bouanga also has three assists in the Champions League, meaning that he has contributed to eight of LAFC's 14 goals in the competition.

Timothy Tillman scored the eventual game and series-winning goal in the 13th minute. That was his first Champions League goal and third in all competitions for LAFC this year.

Carlos Vela now has a goal or an assist in four of LAFC's six Champions League games this year.

Vela and Bouanga have a goal or an assist in all six of LAFC's Champions League games. The pair has combined for nine goals and five assists in six Champions League games this year.

After collecting his first Champions League goal in the second leg of the quarterfinal against Vancouver, Jose Cifuentes tallied his first assist in the competition, setting up Denis Bouanga's 90th minute strike.

John McCarthy made two saves to keep a clean sheet. He now has four shutouts and a 0.50 goals against average in the Champions League this year.

Denil Maldonado entered the game at halftime, replacing Jesus Murillo, to make his Champions League debut for LAFC.

Matuesz Bogusz made his first start in the Champions League for LAFC, having made his debut in the competition as a halftime substitute in the first leg against the Union last week.

LAFC will face either Tigres UANL or Leon in the Champions League Final. Tigres won the first leg of that series 2-1 and the second leg will be played on Wednesday, May 3 at Leon. If Tigres win that game, LAFC will host the first leg of the Final while LAFC will host the second leg if Leon win or that game ends in a draw.

LAFC defeated Leon in the Round of 16 of the 2020 Concacaf Champions League before losing to Tigres in the Final that year.

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