Denis Bouanga played a key role in both of his club’s first-half goals on Saturday night as Los Angeles FC defeated host Sporting Kansas City 3-0.

Bouanga, who won the 2023 Golden Boot, is tied for second in MLS in scoring with 19 goals on the season. But he didn’t need to find the back of the net to do damage on Saturday, assisting on Cristian Olivera’s goal in the first minute of first-half stoppage time after his penalty kick that was saved led to David Martinez’s tally in the 14th minute.

LAFC (17-8-7, 58 points) are six points behind the LA Galaxy for the top spot in the Western Conference after the Galaxy edged Austin FC 2-1 later Saturday. LAFC, who have a match in hand over LA, will play the Vancouver Whitecaps on Oct. 13 before closing the regular season against the San Jose Earthquakes six days later.

Los Angeles FC coach Steve Cherundolo earned his 52nd win in his 100th career MLS match.

Sporting KC (8-18-7, 31 points) wrapped up its home schedule, going 6-7-4 on its own field this season.

Aaron Long scored an impressive goal in the 69th minute to give LAFC a 3-0 lead. Eddie Segura found Long open just inside the box. Instead of passing the ball out, Long made a quick turn to his left and found the upper right corner of the net.

A redirection by Martinez off the missed penalty kick by Bouanga gave Los Angeles the lead in the 14th minute. Bouanga was awarded the PK when Zorhan Bassong tripped him as he entered the box.

Bouanga’s attempt was right at Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia, who turned it away, but Martinez collected the miss and fired it just inside the right post for his fourth goal of the season.

In the first minute of first-half stoppage time, Bouanga drove almost unopposed into the box on the left side. He slid the ball to the middle of the box, where Melia dove to stop it. However, it got away from him and landed at the feet of Olivera, who tapped it into a virtually empty net.

–Field Level Media