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LAFC shuts out Cruz Azul in CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal opener

April 8, 2026

LOS ANGELES — A bottom-feeding MLS team on one night. The top-ranked team in CONCACAF the next.

At the moment, it makes no difference who steps on the field against the Los Angeles Football Club – they are all getting outplayed.

Eleven matches into the 2026 season, LAFC is 9-0-2 in all competitions and, following Tuesday night’s impressive 3-0 victory over reigning CONCACAF Champions Cup winner Cruz Azul at BMO Stadium, the Black & Gold are on the cusp of reaching the international competition’s semifinal round for a third time.

Son Heung-min’s opening goal and David Martínez’s two-goal night powered LAFC to a decisive first-leg triumph against an opponent the players and coaching staff perceived as their toughest test to date.

The early going certainly appeared that way. Cruz Azul forced a couple of early saves from goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, including one on a dangerous header in the ninth minute. Cruz Azul put LAFC under pressure from the opening whistle, and had the hosts appearing a step slow and a tad flustered for the first quarter hour.

LAFC kept calm, worked itself into the game and soon outdid Cruz Azul’s pace and sharpness.

Son’s first goal in the run of play in 2026 – his first goal since the club’s opener on Feb. 17 in Honduras on a penalty kick – completely flipped the energy in the building and on the field.

Roughly two-thirds of the 19,776 fans in attendance wore the blue and white of Cruz Azul. They dominated the pregame noise to make it feel more like a home game for the visitors.

The North End of the stadium was packed with LAFC’s 3252 supporters. At the half-hour mark, Son gave them a goal to go crazy for, putting the reigning CONCACAF Champions Cup winners on the defensive for the first time.

Near midfield, defender Sergi Palencia freed the ball from a scrum of Cruz Azul players. Timothy Tillman’s first time pass into space gave Mathieu Choinière room to run. He looked up and caught a glimpse of Son sprinting toward the 6-yard box, where the Korean slid to the turf and redirected the Canadian’s cross past Colombian goalkeeper Kevin Mier.

Nine minutes after Son let out a scream and pumped his fist in celebration, 20-year-old Venezuelan winger David Martínez doubled the lead.

Again Choinière, who endured a couple of hard knocks in the first half, struck a terrific pass. This time it came from deep in the LAFC end of the field, finding Martínez along the right. Three touches allowed the prodigious talent the room he needed to cut the corner on Argentine midfielder Agustin Palavecino and move toward the Cruz Azul net.

Advancing in stride and holding off his defender, Martínez tucked away between Mier’s legs to finish the first of his two goals.

Martínez’s second goal came in the 58th minute after Son danced around the referee in the LAFC half and found the winger at midfield with room in front of him. Cruz Azul defenders failed to step to the forward, and from the left side of the box his low bouncing shot landed inside the far post.

Lloris made five saves to secure his seventh shutout of the season, pushing LAFC’s goal difference against the opposition to 27-3. By not conceding, LAFC secured a sizable advantage heading into the second leg on April 14 at Cruz Azul’s temporary home, Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Puebla, some 85 miles from the club’s vaunted Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Prior to heading to Mexico, LAFC visits Portland for an MLS match on Saturday afternoon. Coming off a 6-0 league victory over Orlando City SC, LAFC will attempt to remain the only unbeaten MLS team this season.

More to come on this story.

Orange County Register

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LAFC shuts out Cruz Azul in CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal opener

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