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LAFC dominates but ties Alajuelense to begin CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 matchup

March 11, 2026

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Football Club travels to Costa Rica next week for business not pleasure.

Beginning the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 at BMO Stadium on Tuesday night, LAFC deserved more than it got versus the top-ranked Central American team in the region, LD Alajuelense, finishing in a 1-1 tie.

The 31-time Costa Rican champions and current Central America Cup titlists, which guaranteed entry into this stage of the competition, scored on their first shot late in the first half and will head home level, with an away goal to their credit, despite a Black & Gold onslaught of chances in front of 11,275 spectators.

Denis Bouanga’s goal in the 56th minute, his fourth in three Champions Cup games this year, ensured that Alajuelense would not go 2-0-0 at BMO Stadium after winning the second leg of the Round of 16 by a score of 2-1 in 2023, ultimately losing on aggregate 4-2 following LAFC’s 3-0 victory at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto.

Bouanga’s second-half finish offset Alejadro Bran’s gorgeous volley from outside the box in the 43rd minute.

The goal was the first conceded by LAFC in four games – since the 50th minute of its opening match on Feb. 17 during Leg 1 of the opening CONCACAF round in Honduras, which ended 6-1.

Alajuelense ended its four-match losing streak in continental play, yet every statistical category except the crucial one suggested that LAFC dominated.

LAFC played with the ball 76% of the time. The hosts racked up 28 shot attempts to four for the visitors and 12 shots on target to three. LAFC had seven hundred passes to 224 for Alajuelense, 10 ccorner kicks to two. LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had two saves compared to 11 for Uruguayan Washington Ortega, who was named man of the match.

The eye-test told the same story.

LAFC pushed for an early lead as Alajuelense sat deep and got physical with Son Heung-min, who got knocked to the turf a handful of times.

By the 30th minute, LAFC’s pressure ramped up, especially around the box. A ball fell to fullback Sergi Palencia in the box and his shot was just touched over the bar.

On the other side, Bouanga also attempted to get going.

Having scored his first hat trick for LAFC in the opening leg of the Round of 16 against Alajuelense in Costa Rica in 2023, Bouanga had chances to increase his CONCACAF Champions Cup goal total prior to the break.

However Ortega denied the Frenchman, who also could have had an assist had Timothy Tillman made a run to the far post in the 37th minute.

Coping with a significantly tighter contest on Tuesday, LAFC head coach trotted out the same team to begin the second half. And a beautiful sequence ended with Bouanga’s franchise-leading 11th goal in CONCACAF, his fourth this year.

From the top of the box, Son cut a pass behind the defense in Bouanga’s direction. When Amin Boudri – one of the three changes to head coach Marc Dos Santos’ favored starting lineup, joining Ryan Hollingshead for Eddie Segura and Mathieu Choinière for Stephen Eustáquio – acted as a decoy and ran by the ball Bouanga had a clear window to smash it inside the far post.

Ten minutes later, Dos Santos wanted to add punch, swapping regular attacker David Martínez for Boudri as well as forward Nathan Ordaz for midfielder Mark Delgado, leaving Tillman to drop into the middle of the park.

A second goal did not materialize, so LAFC will have to contend with a charged environment to reach the quarterfinal round for the fourth consecutive tournament.

More to come on this story.

Orange County Register

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LAFC dominates but ties Alajuelense to begin CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 matchup

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