LAFC Destroys FC Juarez In Their Leagues Cup Debut

Los Angeles Football Club set a club record with seven goals in their Leagues Cup debut, defeating Liga MX side FC Juarez 7-1 on Wednesday night at BMO Stadium. Denis Bouanga had three goals and an assist, while Carlos Vela had two goals and an assist. LAFC’s Ryan Hollingshead opened the scoring, and Nathan Ordaz rounded out the scoring in the 90th minute with his first goal for the club in all competitions.

In addition to setting a club record, LAFC’s seven goals were the most by any team in the Leagues Cup, surpassing the previous total of five on three previous occasions.

With the win, LAFC advances to the Leagues Cup Round of 16, where they will face the winner of the game between Liga MX side León and Real Salt Lake on Thursday night. The time and date of the Round of 16 games, which will be broadcast live on Apple TV, will be announced later.

LAFC NOTES:

• LAFC set a new club record with seven goals, eclipsing its previous record of six, which it had done on three occasions. The six-goal margin of victory tied a club record, equaling a mark that was set on September 23, 2020, when they beat Vancouver 6-0.
• The seven goals were the most by any team in the Leagues Cup. The previous record was five, which had been done three times during the Group Stage.
• Leagues Cup is the fourth different competition that LAFC has played in this season along with the MLS Regular Season, CONCACAF Champions League, and U.S. Open Cup. The club won its first game in each of those competitions this year, outscoring opponents 15-5.
• This was LAFC’s first game in all competitions since July 15, a span of 18 days. In the 18 days prior to that break, LAFC played six games.
• Denis Bouanga became the fifth player to record a hat trick in the Leagues Cup this year. He joins Monterrey’s German Berterame as the only player in the tournament to score a hat trick and register an assist in the same game.
• Bouanga also scored a hat trick in his Concacaf Champions League debut on March 9 against Alajuelense.
• Bounaga now has 22 goals in all competitions this season, registering a hat trick in MLS, CONCACAF Champions League, and Leagues Cup. He has appeared in 29 games for LAFC this year and he had scored or assisted on 30 goals in that time.
• Carlos Vela had two goals and an assist for LAFC in the win. This was his third multi-goal game of the year and the first time he had two goals and an assist since the 3-2 win over the LA Galaxy on April 16.
• Vela has now scored a goal in three straight games in all competitions, having also scored against St. Louis CITY and Minnesota before the start of the Leagues Cup. This was the first time that he has scored in three straight appearances late in the 2022 season.
• Vela’s three multi-goal games this season have come in three separate competitions, having scored twice against the Galaxy on April 16 and twice against Vancouver five days earlier in the Champions League. 
• Ryan Hollingshead opened the scoring in the 31^st minute. That was his second goal of the season in all competitions and first, since April 16 when he tallied against the Galaxy.
• Nathan Ordaz scored his first goal in all competitions with a 90th-minute strike. He is the second former LAFC Academy/Homegrown player to score a goal for LAFC, joining Christian Torres.
• Ordaz now has a goal and an assist in his last two games at BMO Stadium.
• Sergi Palencia came off the bench in the 75^th minute to replace Ryan Hollingshead. That was his first appearance since being injured in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Final on June 4.
• John McCarthy finished the game with four saves.
• LAFC is now 14-0-3 this year when scoring first.
• LAFC is now 4-4-0 when facing Liga MX teams in official competitions.