Denis Bouanga’s stoppage-time goal leads LAFC past Timbers

LOS ANGELES — Maxime Crepeau did everything in his power to deny his former teammates.

But Denis Bouanga and the Los Angeles Football Club proved to be too much to handle for their beloved friend and former goalkeeper, toppling the Portland Timbers 3-2 with a dramatic stoppage time win at BMO Stadium on Saturday.

Bouanga’s sixth goal of the season capped another charged affair between the Western Conference rivals two weeks after their first regular season meeting, a 2-2 draw in Portland.

Rallying from two goals down at Providence Park, LAFC suffered a similar fate when Portland came from behind in the rematch.

Missing Brazilian midfielder Evander — Portland’s hottest player who tallied three assists and as many goals in his last four matches, including one of each against LAFC two weeks ago — the Timbers were less than dangerous in the opening half.

Unable to put LAFC (4-3-3, 15 points) under sustained pressure, the visitors conceded possession and were carved up as the Black & Gold attack found space to operate behind the Timbers back line.

Outshooting the visitors 9-1 in the first 20 minutes, LAFC had to wait until just before the break to score thanks to Crepeau, whose return to BMO Stadium after leaving as a free agent elicited warm greetings all around.

“When I stepped into the building, I had a feeling of seeing my friends again,” Crepeau said. “Yes there is a business side of it for the Portland Timbers, being a Timber, the human side is that I have a lot of friends here in Los Angeles.

“It was really happy to see everybody, and obviously it touched my heart to have a reception like this. The people welcomed me again with open arms.”

Crepeau still did his best to stymie LAFC.

Starting in front of the 3252 supporters in the North End, Crepeau stopped shots three times in the first 18 minutes, denying Bouanga twice as well as a quality attempt from winger Cristian Olivera.

LAFC appeared to take a lead a short time later when Timothy Tillman dribbled the ball from midfield before breaking the Timbers with a through ball that allowed Bouanga to chip Crepeau. However a video review overturned the goal due to a handball off Tillman’s forearm at the start of the sequence.

The dynamic French forward put himself in the mix again late in the half, and while LAFC’s first goal didn’t register in Bouanga’s column his contribution was enough to force an own-goal against defender Kamal Miller, who knocked it in his net while trying to intercept a cross toward Olivera.

LAFC added its second goal when Olivera, running free down the right side thanks to an outlet pass by Ryan Hollingshead, moved into the box before cutting the ball back for Tillman.

“I just wanted [Olivera] to pass the defender and score that one,” Tillman said, “but I knew, OK, if he wants an option to pass back I needed to be there.”

The German-American’s first time shot bounced low off the inside of the far post, beyond a diving Crepeau, for his fourth goal in 10 appearances.

Portland (2-4-4, 10 points) found its footing after an hour when Uruguayan forward Jonathan Rodiguez corralled the ball with his chest just outside the middle of the box and struck a one-hopper past Lloris for his second MLS goal.

With the final 15 minutes of regulation time looming, the Timbers then leveled the match, from nearly the same spot where Rodriguez delivered, on Colombian midfielder Santiago Moreno’s third finish of the season.

LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo pinned his team’s poor stretch — a step in the wrong direction, he called it — on disappointing decisions with the ball, specifically from the forwards and attacking midfielders who played too fast for his liking.

“It’s not professional and totally unnecessary,” Cherundolo said. “Too many guys are cheating and being lazy defensively and not following the rules, and you get yourself into trouble against teams who have attacking pieces.”

Moments later, another Colombian midfielder, 14-year MLS veteran Diego Chara, picked up his second yellow, forcing the Timbers to play down a man just as they did 14 days ago when Crepeau was shown a straight red early in the second half.

Merely by stepping on the field, however, Chara had a banner night as he established a pair of MLS records, surpassing San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski for the most games played with one club (377) and Real Salt Lake’s Nick Rimando for most games started with the same team (370).

Crepeau kept his new team in the game thanks to four stellar stops before Bouanga’s laser in the 92nd minute, which maintained LAFC’s undefeated home record through a half-dozen games.

As LAFC doubled up Portland on shots (20 to 10) and shots on goal (10 to five), the Canadian international made eight saves to Lloris’s three, including a tremendous reaction following a Kei Kamara headed corner kick in stoppage time that rolled to Bouanga’s lethal right foot for the game-clincher, pushing LAFC’s unbeaten streak to four.

“[Crepeau] had a great first half,” said Bouanga, who wished his fellow 2022 MLS Cup winner well in Portland. “He was eager to stop us. Obviously he knows us really well, but at the end what we hold onto is we scored three goals so it was fun to play against him.”