LOS ANGELES — Sometimes the bare minimum is enough to get the job done.
Such was the case Tuesday night at BMO Stadium, where the Los Angeles Football Club stayed alive in the CONCACAF Champions Cup with a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids.
The shutout victory ensured LAFC would face the Columbus Crew in the continental competition’s Round of 16 beginning next week.
Advancing 2-2 on aggregate, with Aaron Long’s score in the first leg of the two-game series holding up as the away-goal tiebreaker, LAFC shut down the Rapids yet again, nailing down a fifth consecutive home shutout against Colorado dating to May 2021.
LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo and his team knew they had to get on the scoreboard at least once to advance and avoid bowing out of the tournament after reaching the final in their previous two appearances (2020 and 2023).
While the opening contest in Commerce City, Colorado, was played in single-digit temperatures, Tuesday’s finale offered a pleasant Southern California evening around 60 degrees.
Though the conditions were immeasurably better, LAFC labored through a particularly burdensome first half.
Colorado, meanwhile, took five shots through 97 minutes of game action but failed to put one on target. A strong defensive effort from Cherundolo’s group helped LAFC remain undefeated at home against the Rapids, improving to 8-0-0 with a 22-2 goal margin, which grew by one on Mark Delgado’s game-winning score in the 49th minute.
Receiving the ball on the right flank, David Martínez burst past a Rapids defender, gathering just enough space to deliver a low cross toward the 6-yard box, where Olivier Giroud had made a run to the near post.
The ball cleared the French striker’s long reach, but covering ground behind him Delgado got just enough of the ball as he slid to the grass that it cleared Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen.
More to come on this story.