Denis Bouanga's goal enough; LAFC keeps pace in race for top seed

Denis Bouanga's goal in first-half stoppage time led Los Angeles FC to a 1-0 victory over visiting St. Louis City on Wednesday night.

The Black and Gold (16-8-7, 55 points) have now won back-to-back MLS matches after a 2-1 victory over FC Cincinnati last Saturday, which snapped a stretch of five league matches without a victory.

With the win, LAFC remains undefeated against St. Louis City (3-0-1). The Black and Gold sit six points behind the first-place Los Angeles Galaxy in the race for the top spot in the Western Conference. LAFC has three matches remaining while the Galaxy have two.

St. Louis (7-12-13, 34 points), eliminated from MLS Cup playoff contention, saw its two-match win streak halted.

Olivier Giroud thought he'd doubled LAFC's lead in the 55th minute, chipping the ball past keeper Benjamin Lundt and putting a strike into the open goal, but it was ruled that Giroud started from an offside position.

Bouanga nearly had his second of the match in the 72nd minute with a one-timer cross but Lundt got his foot on it to keep it out.

Despite St. Louis controlling the first-half possession, LAFC had the only four shots on target in the opening 45.

Bouanga opened the scoring in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, putting his right-footed strike from the top of the box past Lundt for his 19th of the season. The French forward trails only D.C. United's Christian Benteke (22 goals) in the MLS Golden Boot race.

LAFC had a glorious chance 10 minutes in. Omar Campos sent a cross for Cristian Olivera, but the midfielder put his header just wide of the goal.

Then in the 18th minute, Mateusz Bogusz's strike from just outside the box deflected off Giroud and sailed wide.

Bouanga had a chance in the 26th minute with some fancy footwork in the area, but Lundt turned aside his left-footed strike.

LAFC earned a 2-0 victory at St. Louis on May 15 -- the only other meeting between the clubs this season.

--Field Level Media