Denis Bouanga leads LAFC over Vancouver in first leg of CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal

LAFC entered the year as arguably the best team in MLS.

It’s gotten better since then, as the reigning MLS champions showed in Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps in the first game of a two-leg CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal.

With a punishingly packed schedule that could have LAFC play as many as 60 times this season, depth will be key. To help with that, general manager John Thorrington added European imports Timothy Tillman, Mateusz Bogusz and defender Sergi Palencia over the last two months.

Tillman and Palencia had impressive performances, but the game was pretty much a one-man show with Denis Bouanga scoring twice and setting up the other goal by Mahala Opoku. Bouanga leads the CCL with five goals in three games heading into the quarterfinal’s second leg Tuesday at BMO Stadium, where LAFC needs to avoid a loss by three or more goals to the advance to the semifinals for the second time in five seasons.

The biggest play in a scoreless half came in the 13th minute when LAFC keeper John McCarthy made a diving one-handed save of a Tristan Blackmon shot that was headed in at the far post. Vancouver wouldn’t put another shot on goal until the final minute of regulation.

In between, Bouanga took control, giving LAFC the only goal it would need by driving a right-footed shot from distance over Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka and off the underside of the crossbar in the 55th minute for the first of three goals in a 10-minute span.

Bouanga set up the second six minutes later when he took the ball away from Vancouver’s Andrés Cubas at the top of the Whitecaps’ penalty area. The loose ball rolled into the middle of the box for Opoku, who took a short dribble before finishing with a left-footed shot inside the left post.

Bouanga closed the scoring in the 65th minute, taking a pass from Tillman and eluding three defenders to score on a left-footed shot high into the left corner of the net.