LOS ANGELES — On a winger and a prayer, Club Tijuana had no answer for Dénis Bouanga, Cristian Olivera or the Los Angeles Football Club.
The Leagues Cup group stage kicked off for both sides on Friday night as the second installment of the month-long tournament, composed of 47 Major League Soccer and Liga MX clubs, finished 3-0 in LAFC’s favor.
Playing at BMO Stadium in front of an announced crowd of 22,030, LAFC’s dynamic wingers each scored and assisted during an eventful opening half, and combined again for one more to push the game out of reach near the 1-hour mark.
Sandwiching striker Kei Kamara to start the match, Bouanga and Olivera missed quality early chances but multiple opportunities satisfied their ambitions against a Liga MX team that opened its season three weeks ago.
Olivera gave LAFC the lead nine minutes in thanks to a terrific individual effort from his French teammate.
Bouanga split a pair of Tijuana defenders while driving into the box, forcing goalkeeper Antonio Rodriguez to come out and meet him, which opened space for a simple cross and tap-in for the Uruguayan.
Moments later, play was paused for nine minutes when Tijuana midfielder Christian Rivera was knocked unconscious as he jumped for a header and collided with LAFC defender Eddie Segura.
Before Rivera was carted off the field on a stretcher, Tijuana head coach Juan Carlos Osorio, the former Mexican national team manager, was shown a red card by referee Iván Barton for screaming at the fourth official, Vimarest Diaz.
Numerous chances followed, but LAFC didn’t add to its lead until the 43rd minute when Olivera returned the favor to Bouanga.
Missing LAFC’s last match, a 3-0 win in Seattle, Olivera’s effort to steal and retain the ball paid off with Bouanga’s seventh Leagues Cup goal, having notched a half-dozen in three tournament games last year.
With Bouanga trailing the play, Olivera showed as much patience as he could before hitting a curler near the 6-yard box that required a deftly hit volley back across the face of goal into the side netting.
Olivera nearly scored again before the break, but he wouldn’t have to wait much longer to tally his second.
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Entering the match to start the second half, midfielder Eduard Atuesta took advantage of Tijuana’s high defensive line and hit a ball over the top into space to Bouanga, whose attempt hit the post. Crashing down on the rebound, Olivera put away his 10th goal in all competitions this season.
Tijuana’s Rodriguez prevented his team from experiencing a total blowout like FC Juarez’s 7-1 defeat that began the LAFC’s last Leagues Cup experience. Meanwhile, Hugo Lloris stopped four fairly simple shots to secure his 10th clean sheet in all competitions.
After jumping directly into the knockout stage last year thanks to its 2022 MLS Cup title, LAFC’s second taste of group stage competition – the club first experienced it during the MLS is Back tournament four years ago in Orlando – Friday’s result secured three points ahead of its next match against Vancouver on Tuesday night at BMO Stadium.
The top two teams from each of the tournament’s 15 groups will advance to the knockout round. If LAFC moves on to the single-elimination portion of the competition, it will face Monterrey, Pumas or Austin FC in the Round of 32, hoping to ultimately reach the final on Aug. 25.
More to come on this story.