Denis Bouanga scored on a penalty kick late in the first half and host Los Angeles FC dominated the short-handed Colorado Rapids 3-0 on Wednesday night.
Nathan Ordaz and Javairo Dilrosun added second-half tallies as Los Angeles (8-5-5, 29 points) continued its home mastery of the Rapids.
Colorado played with 10 men after Jackson Travis drew a red card after making contact with Sergi Palencia while contesting a ball in the midfield in the sixth minute.
That opened the door for LAFC to hold possession nearly 70 percent of the game and post a 22-6 edge in shots. LAFC put five on target to Colorado’s two while improving to 5-1-5 over their past 11 MLS matches.
The Rapids (7-10-5, 26 points) fell to 0-7-0 all-time in MLS matches at BMO Stadium. Colorado has been blanked in its last six visits to LAFC across all competitions, counting a Leagues Cup match last season as well as a CONCACAF Champions visit earlier this year.
LAFC’s Hugo Lloris and the Rapids’ Nico Hansen both made two saves.
The Rapids are 1-5-1 over their past seven matches.
Colorado’s Keegan Rosenberry made two big plays in the 28th minute to keep the game scoreless. First, he intercepted a cross to prevent a big goal-scoring opportunity. Seconds later, he made the stop with his feet after Igor Jesus ripped a right-footed shot at the net.
Later in the half, Colorado’s Andreas Maxso tripped Bouanga in the box and a penalty kick was awarded.
Bouanga stood at the spot in the 42nd minute and sent a hard right-footed boot into the upper portion of the net to get LAFC on the board. The goal was Bouanga’s ninth of the season and 50th in MLS regular-season play.
LAFC held an 11-1 edge in shots in the first half and then added a goal in the third minute of the second half.
Dilrosun took a left-footed shot that was stopped by Hansen. But the rebound went directly to Ordaz, who knocked the ball into the net.
In the 59th minute, Timothy Tillman slid a pass over to Dilrosun, who sent a left-footed shot just past the hands of the diving Hansen to make it 3-0.
–Field Level Media
