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MLS Los Angeles FC

LAFC Play to 1-1 Draw with San Jose

July 8, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Los Angeles FC News Release


The Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) came from behind to earn a point with a 1-1 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night at BMO Stadium. The Earthquakes opened the scoring in the 30th minute through Cristian Espinoza before Denis Bouanga equalized from the penalty spot seven minutes later.

The Earthquakes were reduced to 10 men in the 56th minute after goalkeeper Daniel was called for a handball outside the box, but LAFC were not able to find a game-winning goal despite outshooting San Jose 11-4 in the second half and forcing San Jose's two goalkeepers to make five saves after the break.

With the draw, LAFC is now 9-6-6 on the season for 33 points, good for a tie for third place in the Western Conference.

LAFC will be back in action on Wednesday, July 12 when they host the expansion St. Louis CITY SC, the current Western Conference leaders, for the first time ever. That game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. PT and can be seen live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

NEWS & NOTES

The draw snaps LAFC's three-game losing streak dating back to the June 24 home loss to Vancouver. LAFC has only lost more than three league games in a row once in the club's history, losing four straight in August 2021.

Denis Bouanga scored his 12th goal of the season in the 37th minute, converting a penalty kick. He remains second in MLS in scoring, one behind Nashville SC's Hany Mukhtar.

That was his 19th goal in all competitions this year, and his second straight home game scoring a goal.

Bouanga is now 2-for-2 from the penalty spot in MLS play this season while LAFC is 6-for-8.

Midfielder Jose Cifuentes made his 100th regular season appearance for LAFC, playing the full 90 minutes. Since joining LAFC in 2020, he has tallied 13 goals and 19 assists in 100 games, starting 76 times.

LAFC captain Carlos Vela and Ilie Sanchez, who wears the captain's armband when Vela is not on the field, each started the game on the bench. This was just the fourth time since Sanchez joined the club before the start of last season that both players were not in the starting lineup for an MLS regular season, MLS postseason or Concacaf Champions League game.

In the absence of Vela and Sanchez, Kellyn Acosta started the game with the captain's armband.

San Jose goalkeeper Daniel was sent off in the 56th minute for a handball outside the box. He is the second LAFC opponent to be sent off in a game this season, and the first since FC Dallas defender Ema Twumasi was sent off at BMO Stadium on March 25.

Daniel made two saves before being shown his red card, while his replacement, JT Marcinkowski had three saves in his time on the field.

LAFC is now 1-0-1 when finishing a game up a man compared to 0-1-0 when finishing with 10.

This was the third and final regular season game of the year between LAFC and San Jose. LAFC finished the year with a 1-1-1 record against the Earthquakes with each team scoring four goals in those three contests.

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Major League Soccer Stories from July 8, 2023


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