LAFC shuffles lineup, routs Seattle to extend unbeaten streak
LOS ANGELES — Rotating forwards Cengiz Ünder and Jeremy Ebobisse into the starting lineup paid off Wednesday for the Los Angeles Football Club.
Each attacker scored, as did fellow forward Denis Bouanga, and LAFC stymied the surging Seattle Sounders, 4-0, splitting the regular-season series with the team that beat the Black & Gold in last year’s MLS Cup playoffs. Midfielder Yaw Yeboah also connected on his first goal with LAFC (6-4-3, 21 points), punctuating the club’s most lopsided win of the year.
Starting for the first time since April 9, when LAFC was eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions Cup by Inter Miami, Ünder was rewarded in the 26th minute with his second MLS goal since arriving on a loan in late February.
Off a corner kick, Seattle (5-4-4, 19 points) cleared a Denis Bouanga cross out of the box. The ball fell to Ünder and from 30 yards away the Turkish left-footed forward struck a curling shot between traffic that took one hop off the grass and snuck past goalkeeper Andrew Thomas, who leaned the wrong way and barely got a hand on Ünder’s attempt.
Seattle’s backup behind Stefan Frei also started the Sounders’ 5-2 victory over LAFC in March. Thomas didn’t have much to do that day. This time he was under pressure from the opening whistle as LAFC ran its streak of results to six while snapping a a five-game unbeaten string (4-0-1) for Seattle.
Making his first start since March 15, Ebobisse provided breathing room for the second straight match in front of LAFC’s home supporters. After putting LAFC ahead 2-0 over Houston on May 3, he did the same against Seattle in the 51st minute.
Capitalizing on a terrific pass from LAFC’s side of the pitch into space by midfielder Igor Jesus, who took the ball off the foot of Seattle’s Pedro de la Vega to set up the action, Ebobisse took it into the box, cut to his right, and struck it low into the corner.
Ünder, Ebobisse and midfielder Frankie Amaya, who made his first start after joining LAFC last month, were subbed off in the 66th minute. Amaya put in a strong hour-plus in place of Mark Delgado, who entered for the last half hour alongside Nathan Ordaz and David Martínez.
Unlike their 2-2 draw on Sunday in Vancouver, LAFC did not defend deep or step off the gas to protect what they had. Instead, Bouanga’s sixth goal of the year in the 80th minute, off an assist from Martínez, and the fifth goal for Yeboah in 81 MLS matches sealed the dominant performance.
Three saves against Seattle preserved Hugo Lloris’ fifth clean sheet in 12 regular-season starts.
LAFC plays its third game in eight days on Sunday when the club visits the winless Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park for the first El Trafico of 2025.
More to come on this story.