Cristian Olivera, Denis Bouanga lead LAFC past Whitecaps

Cristian Olivera scored two goals and Denis Bouanga had three assists to lead Los Angeles FC to a 3-0 victory over the host Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night.

Mateusz Bogusz also scored for LAFC (5-4-3, 18 points), who improved to 5-0-2 at home.

Vancouver (5-3-3, 18 points) was blanked for the second straight match and lost on the road for the first time this season. The Whitecaps are 3-1-1 in away matches.

LAFC is a dominating 5-1-1 against Vancouver across all competitions since the start of the 2023 season. That includes two victories in last year's Champions Cup and two wins in the first round of last season's MLS playoffs.

Hugo Lloris had four saves while notching his third shutout of the season for LAFC.

Vancouver's Yohei Takaoka made five saves.

The Whitecaps had a 16-14 edge in shots but LAFC placed eight on target to four for the Whitecaps. Olivera took six shots and four were on goal.

Olivera's first goal came in the 18th minute.

Bouanga had the ball on the left flank and sent a shot toward the net. Olivera was in perfect position to deflect the ball in with his right leg to put LAFC ahead.

In the 36th minute, Bouanga again had the ball and he navigated himself close to the net. Then he passed the ball across the front of the net, and Olivera had an easy tap-in for his sixth goal of the season.

Bouanga picked up his third assist in the 57th minute as he made a long run down the left side and sent a cross toward the net. A diving Takaoka was unable to reach the ball and Bogusz was there waiting. He drilled it into the net for his fifth goal of the season.

Vancouver star Brian White was limited to one shot, a header in the 72nd minute that was wide of the net. White exited in the 80th minute.