LAFC earn three points in dominant shutout win over Colorado Rapids

LOS ANGELES -- Looking to bounce back from a loss, LAFC handled business in a strong 3-0 shutout victory over the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday evening at BMO Stadium. The Black and Gold are now 8-5-5 and have hopped back above San Jose to claim sixth place in the Western Conference.

The Rapids continued what has been a miserable history at BMO Stadium, remaining winless against LAFC in the building. Los Angeles has now scored 20 goals in six seven prior meetings against Colorado at home while allowing just two.

Colorado's Jackson Travis quickly saw his day come to an end after being shown a red card in the sixth minute for violent conduct. He and Sergei Palencia both leapt into the air as they attempted to make a play on the ball, with Palencia crashing to the ground in pain.

Taking advantage of an undermanned Colorado squad, Los Angeles dominated possession and applied constant pressure on the attacking end of the pitch. Despite managing to manufacture just one shot on goal through the opening 42 minutes, Denis Bouanga finally created some momentum as he drew a penalty on a breakaway.

He stepped up and drilled it past Rapids' goalkeeper Nico Hansen to put LAFC out in front 1-0. They would take the one score lead into the locker room at halftime following a dominant performance on both sides of the ball through the opening 45 minutes.

With the score, Bouanga now has 50 regular season goals in just 87 matches with the team. He is the 15th player to reach that mark in 90 or fewer appearances.

Los Angeles kept their foot on the gas, almost immediately adding on to begin the second half. Javairô Dilrosun, taking advantage of a nice feed from Ryan Hollingshead, fired a promising look towards goal that Hansen was able to deflect. However, Nathan Ordaz was right there to clean it up and score his fourth goal of the season to make it 2-0.

Less than 10 minutes later, Dilrosun managed to get in on the action himself, earning his first goal with LAFC. The 27-year-old, in just his fourth game with the club and second in MLS play, struck one past Hansen with his left foot to further extend the Los Angeles advantage.

He was previously a member of Club América, appearing in his final game with the side back on May 31 as they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of LAFC in the FIFA Club World Cup play-in match. 

"I hadn't scored for a long time and mentally that's tough," said Dilrosun. "I'm happy now and hopefully this is only the first."

David Martinez nearly provided yet another score in the 78th minute as he intercepted a pass deep in Colorado territory and gave himself a one-on-one chance against Hansen. Martinez fired the shot just off to the left as it clanged against the post and deflected away. 

The 19-year-old has not scored since April 19, and has tallied just one point total since. 

LAFC continued to defend strongly and keep the ball out of their territory the rest of the way, with the final whistle solidifying one of the most dominant wins of 2025 for the club. Head coach Steve Cherundolo was impressed by the performance he saw from his squad.

"There's no replacement for wins and more specifically three points in the position that we're in, so that was very important tonight," he said. "Playing in a controlled manner against a deep block has not been very easy for us...it's a really good step in the right direction for us to play against teams with a deep block, to break them down and create a lot of moments."

Los Angeles will be back in action at home on Saturday as they host FC Dallas. At 5-6-9, Dallas is currently 13th in the Western Conference and riding a three game losing streak.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT.