By Patrik Bergabo – SportingKC.com
Sporting Kansas City (4-11-2, 14 pts.) suffered a 4-0 defeat against LAFC (10-5-3, 33 pts.) at BMO Stadium on Saturday. Three clinical counter attacks in the first half put Sporting into a halftime deficit before LAFC added a fourth goal late on.
Head coach Raphael Wicky made one change from the team’s midweek victory over Minnesota United as Stephen Afrifa entered the lineup for his first start of the season with Capita Capemba dropping out due to illness.
LAFC got off to a fast start and took the lead in the fifth minute of the match when star forward Heung Min Son scored his third of the season. Zorhan Bassong’s tackle in midfield inadvertently directed the ball into the South Korean’s path and he made no mistake once through one-on-one. The goal was awarded after surviving a lengthy VAR check for a foul on Manu Garcia in the build-up.
Sporting grew into the game but conceded a second goal on the back of a lengthy spell of possession in LAFC’s half. When the ball turned over on the edge of the area, Mathieu Choiniere sprung Denis Bouanga in behind and the pacy forward buried his ninth goal of the season.
Sporting responded by going close twice in quick succession as first Lasse Berg Johnsen’s strike was sent looping over the bar by a deflection, before Dejan Joveljic fired over from the ensuing corner. Instead, it was LAFC that pulled further ahead on the stroke of halftime when Bouanga sprung David Martinez in behind who converted to make it three at the break.
Sporting pushed for a goal back in the second half and dominated territory but was unable to create many clear-cut chances against one of the top defensive teams in MLS. Bassong forced a save from Hugo Lloris with a low strike from the edge of the area in the 77th minute before Bouanga grabbed his second goal of a frustrating night in the 85th minute to make the final score 4-0.
Sporting returns home next weekend when the team hosts longtime rivals the Houston Dynamo at Sporting Park on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 9:30 p.m. CT on Apple TV, while the game will be air on the radio on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM. Tickets are available via SeatGeek.
2026 MLS Regular Season | Game 17
BMO Stadium | Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 22,030
Weather: 79 degrees and partly cloudy
Sporting Kansas City 0-4 LAFC
| Score | 1 | 2 | F |
| Sporting Kansas City (4-11-2, 11 points) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LAFC (10-5-3, 33 points) | 3 | 1 | 4 |
Sporting Kansas City: Stefan Cleveland; Jake Davis, Or Blorian (Moises Mosquera 69’), Wyatt Meyer, Emir Karic; Stephen Afrifa (Shapi Suleymanov 62’), Lasse Berg Johnsen, Zorhan Bassong, Calvin Harris; Manu Garcia (Kwaku Agyabeng 62’), Dejan Joveljic (C)
Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Ethan Bartlow, Ian James, Jansen Miller, Jayden Reid, Jacob Bartlett
LAFC: Hugo Lloris; Ryan Hollingshead (Ryan Raposo 78’), Ryan Porteous, Aaron Long (C), Yevhen Cheberko; Marky Delgado (Jude Terry 62’), Mathieu Choiniere, Timothy Tillman (Eddie Segura 46’); David Martinez (Tyler Boyd 78’), Heung Min Son (Jeremy Ebobisse 85’), Denis Bouanga
Subs Not Used: Thomas Hasal, Kenneth Nielsen, Nkosi Tafari, Jacob Shaffelburg
Scoring Summary:
LAFC – Heung Min Son 3 (Unassisted) 5’
LAFC – Denis Bouanga 9 (Mathieu Choiniere 4, Aaron Long 2) 37’
LAFC – David Martinez 6 (Denis Bouanga 6, Aaron Long 3) 49+
LAFC – Denis Bouanga 10 (Tyler Boyd 2, Ryan Porteous 1) 85’
Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Manu Garcia (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 2’
SKC – Dominic Kinnear (Yellow Card; Dissent) 17’
SKC – Calvin Harris (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 75’
Match Statistics
| STAT | SKC | LAFC |
| Shots | 8 | 8 |
| Shots on Goal | 1 | 5 |
| Expected Goals | 0.2 | 1.7 |
| Corner Kicks | 1 | 5 |
| Possession | 51.0% | 49.0% |
| Saves | 1 | 1 |
| Fouls | 11 | 8 |
Referee: Ricardo Fierro
Assistant Referee: Cory Richardson
Assistant Referee: Eduardo Jeff
Fourth Official: Trevor Wiseman
VAR: Carol Anne Chenard
AVAR: Robert Schaap
