ORLANDO, Fla. — Denis Bouanga finished with two goals and an assist and Los Angeles FC ran its win streak to six with a 3-1 victory over Orlando City on Saturday night.
What You Need To Know
- Orlando City SC lost to Los Angeles FC 3-1 on Saturday night
- Denis Bouanga scored twice and had an assist for LAFC
- Martin Ojeda, substituted in the game in the 61st minute, scored for the Lions
- Goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar made his second start for Orlando City and turned away four shots
The Lions have not won a game since May 18 against San Diego FC.
"Now we need to have a deeper analysis about what’s happening on the pitch," coach Oscar Pareja said. "But once again, it's not enough at this point. We need to win games, and that’s not happening.”
LAFC (10-4-3) has won five in a row on the road after failing to win any of its first five away from home this season.
LAFC took a 1-0 lead into halftime on a goal by Bouanga, unassisted in the 45th minute.
Orlando City (4-8-5) pulled even in the 69th minute on a goal by midfielder Martin Ojeda, ending a shutout streak by LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris at five matches and 644 minutes, both club records. Rookie forward Luis Muriel picked up his second assist on Ojeda’s first netter of the season. Ojeda had entered the game in the 61st minute as a substitute for Iván Angulo.
"Obviously, he’s (Muriel) got great skill, and he had a great touch on the ball, and he put it right to the space where I was thinking and I was able to finish it off, thankfully," Ojeda said. "So, to be able to score that goal, I was just really happy, especially in that moment since we had just tied the game and put ourselves in a position to win the game. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way.”
LAFC regained the lead in the 80th minute when Mateusz Bogusz took a pass from Bouanga and scored his seventh goal of the campaign. LAFC has a 9-0-1 mark this season when Bouanga, who has six assists, contributes to a goal.
Bouanga polished off the victory in the 86th minute with has 12th goal of the season. Nathan Ordaz and Lloris picked up assists on the score.
Lloris finished without a save for LAFC.
Mason Stajduhar turned away four shots in his second start of the season for Orlando City. Stajduhar was one of three changes Pareja made to the starting lineup. The others were defender Robin Jansson and Luis Muriel.
"[We] had a couple of poor defensive mistakes there at the end," Stajduhar said. "On the counter, I feel like we had a lot of opportunities to shoot the ball and score; it’s hard to win games when you’re only putting the ball in the back of the net once a game. We have to work better as a team, be sound defensively and get better in the attacking third as well.”
Orlando City’s next game is at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Charlotte, N.C.