Los Angeles FC continued its recent success against the Philadelphia Union by eliminating its fellow MLS counterparts from this season’s Concacaf Champions League.
Timothy Tillman scored the opening goal before Kwadwo Opoku and Denis Bouanga both scored in the second half to give LAFC a 3-0 second leg semifinal victory at BMO Stadium. LAFC advanced to the tournament final by a 4-1 aggregate scoreline and will meet either Tigres or Club Leon later this month.
Tillman delivered the opening goal in the 13th minute, scoring off a rebound following an impressive original save from Andre Blake. Ilie Sanchez’s free header was cleared off the line by a diving Blake, but Tillman arrived on the spot to roof his rebound attempt.
It was Tillman’s third goal for the club since joining from Greuther Furth.
Daniel Gazdag had a great opportunity to tie things up in the 22nd minute after Diego Palacios misjudged Kai Wagner’s long cross in the box. Gazdag was left wide open to gather the cross before hitting a hard effort towards goal, but John McCarthy stood tall to repel the effort.
Gazdag also missed wide of the target later in the half after given room by the LAFC defense to test his luck.
The Union’s steep uphill climb got even tougher in the second half after Olivier Mbaizo was sent off just before the hour mark. Mbaizo’s first yellow card came in the first half for a needless push on Jesus Murillo and the Cameroon international tripped Denis Bouanga in the 58th minute to receive his second yellow.
Despite Philadelphia’s best efforts to create chances in the final third, LAFC used the extra man to their advantage in the final minutes. Carlos Vela’s pass to a wide open Opoku in the box allowed the Ghanaian to pick up his head and rifle a left-footed shot past Blake and into the roof of the net.
Denis Bounaga added his sixth goal of the tournament to add an insurance tally for LAFC at 3-0. Jose Cifuentes’ through ball pass allowed Bounaga the chance to dance around Jakob Glesnes before drilling a shot into the top-left corner.
LAFC would hang on to clinch its second-ever berth into the CCL Final.
Both teams resume MLS play this weekend with LAFC visiting San Jose and the Union traveling to the New York Red Bulls.