Denis Bouanga's 1 goal, 2 assists help LAFC beat Sporting KC 3-1
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Denis Bouanga had a goal and two assists, Eddie Segura scored his first goal since 2020 and Los Angeles FC extended its unbeaten streak to nine games with a 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City on Sunday night.
Bouanga converted from the penalty spot in the 59th to give LAFC (7-4-5), which had 56% possession and outshot Kansas City 21-5, a 2-1 lead.
Dejan Joveljic scored a goal for the fourth consecutive game when he ran onto a through ball played ahead by Manu García, exploded into the area and scored from near the penalty spot to make it 1-0 in the 39th minute.
The 25-year-old Joveljic, who scored 15 goals and had six assists last season and was acquired in February from the LA Galaxy in exchange for $4 million, is tied for third in MLS with 10 goals this season — five in the past four games.
Segura slipped a header — off a corner kick played into the center of the area by Bouanga — inside the back post in first-half stoppage time to make it 1-1 at halftime.
Olivier Giroud capped the scoring in the third minute of stoppage time, the 38-year-old's second consecutive game with a goal.
John Pulskamp had four saves for Sporting.
Hugo Lloris stopped one shot for LAFC.
Kansas City (4-9-4) beat Houston 3-1 last time out to snap a four-game winless streak.
LAFC beat Sporting 2-0 on March 22.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
10 minutes ago
- New York Times
Tennis' new grand rivalry is here, plus the Thunder's unwavering mettle
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! LSU's going to the Men's College World Series. Please clap. There is a terrifying bluntness to this Oklahoma City team. Amid their last three NBA playoff series, they have endured brutal losses. Collapses against the Nuggets and the Pacers. A 42-point loss to the Timberwolves. And yet, no further bleeding or fallout for the quiet, unflinching juggernauts — particularly in last night's 123-107 win over the Pacers: We should workshop that for Game 3, which is Wednesday. Let's move to a different surface: The headline itself is not shocking: Carlos Alcaraz beat Jannik Sinner in five sets yesterday to win the French Open. Alcaraz has now won two straight French Opens. Impressive, but kinda ho-hum, right? The notion betrays the incredible reality that was watching this match, as implied by the final score: 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2). Two things I want to highlight from a bonkers day in Paris: The rivalry is 'stratospheric' now, as Charlie Eccleshare wrote from Roland Garros. Tennis is in a great spot. Let's hope these two play at Wimbledon. Kershaw gets mad Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw was miffed in St. Louis yesterday when the Cardinals showed a video of Matt Adams' 2014 playoff homer off Kershaw before the teams' series finale began. After the game — a 7-3 win in which Kershaw pitched five innings of one-run ball — Kershaw called the ploy 'bush league,' which rings a little hollow to me. The Cardinals trash-talked, Kershaw responded with greatness. That's just fun. See more from Kershaw. Advertisement Chubb signs Former Browns running back Nick Chubb is expected to sign with the Texans today, league sources told The Athletic, which is one of the most intriguing moves of this offseason. Chubb has been a game-changer when healthy, though he's suffered season-ending injuries the last two years. Plus, our report notes that Chubb had more lucrative offers elsewhere and chose a contender in Houston. More on his fit here. More news 📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other newsletters. As I expected, a majority of you are wary about Aaron Rodgers' stay in Pittsburgh, for obvious reasons: A franchise that prides itself on stability and excellence has invited maybe the most unpredictable (and talented) force into its locker room as the starting quarterback. What could go wrong? There are only two outcomes I see here: Things are tense and minicamp hasn't even started. Good vibes! Thank you, as always, for voting. 📺 NHL: Oilers at Panthers 8 p.m. on TNT/Max Game 3 of what has been an elite Stanley Cup Final thus far. Pulse odds are -500 for another overtime game. 📺 College baseball: Murray State at Duke 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+ The last men's College World Series spot is decided here. Murray State is on an upset tear, after winning the Ole Miss regional and scoring 19 runs yesterday to force a Game 3 in this super regional. Fun baseball. Get tickets to games like these here. Talk to any sportswriter and they'll have tales of scrapping entire stories after an unexpected comeback in a late game. The Pacers' playoff run, filled with these exact moments, inspired writers from across The Athletic to share their best 'DELETE DELETE DELETE' stories. Read them here. Extremely useful: Mike Jones has NFL minicamp storylines as teams report this week. We'll be circling back on this in the coming days. Advertisement Scott Wheeler returns with a new 2025 NHL mock draft after the combine wrapped. See the picks. I loved this story from Will Sammon on how Pete Alonso took his game planning to a new level this offseason. It wasn't that long ago that most thought the Mets would let him walk. Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on Aryna Sabalenka's controversial comments after losing the French Open final. Sabalenka backtracked yesterday. Most-read on the website yesterday: The Sinner-Alcaraz live blog went wild.
CNN
11 minutes ago
- CNN
Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson wears Luka Dončić shoes in ‘protest' of Lakers trade
Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson is clearly not a fan of how the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Dončić earlier this year, and he found a novel way of expressing his disapproval. The 85-year-old was at Game 2 of this year's NBA Finals on Sunday to pick up the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award winner, recognition for his 31 years as one of the most successful coaches ever. But it was Nelson's choice of footwear which made the headlines, with the former Mavericks coach wearing Dončić's signature Jordan Brand sneakers. 'I want everybody to know I'm wearing Luka's shoes, his new shoes from Nike that just got on the market,' Nelson told reporters. 'I'm wearing them in protest for the trade from Dallas. Tremendous mistake by the Dallas franchise to trade him and I want everybody to know that.' In February, the NBA world was left stunned after it was announced that the Los Angeles Lakers would be acquiring Dončić, as well as Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris, from the Dallas Mavericks for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and the Lakers' 2029 first-round draft pick. It was a decision that left Mavericks fans and critics angry and confused, with Dončić himself saddened by the trade. That blow for Mavs fans has been somewhat softened in recent weeks after the franchise won the NBA lottery, getting the first pick in the draft and the chance to begin to fill the void left by Dončić's departure with Duke phenom Cooper Flagg. But Nelson, clearly, is still frustrated by the decision to let such a talented player leave the team. The former coach spent eight years with the Mavericks during a record-breaking career. He was perhaps best known for his two stints with the Golden State Warriors, where he laid the foundations for the franchise's modern dominance. He is also one of only two coaches in NBA history to have at least 250 wins with three franchises. Nelson retired in 2010 as the winningest coach in NBA history – a record which has since been broken by Nelson's friend, Gregg Popovich. 'I'm so proud to be one of the many who have already received this award,' Nelson told reporters when receiving the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award Sunday. 'I made the Hall of Fame in 2012 and this is certainly as important to me as that award was.'
New York Times
13 minutes ago
- New York Times
Phillies takeaways on the sputtering offense, outfield issues and a pitching tightrope
The defining sequence of a miserable weekend in Pittsburgh that featured three Phillies' one-run losses came in the seventh inning Saturday afternoon. The game was tied. Alec Bohm doubled to right, then advanced to third on a wild pitch. No outs. The Phillies just needed a fly ball to score him. Nick Castellanos worked a 3-0 count against righty reliever Isaac Mattson. He took two straight sliders for strikes, then a borderline fastball for strike three. J.T. Realmuto got a hanging slider and skied it only 214 feet to right — not deep enough. Bryson Stott reached a full count but couldn't handle a changeup in the zone. He flied out to center. Advertisement The Pirates homered in the bottom half of the inning. The end. But that failed seventh-inning chance was emblematic of a deeper issue that begins to explain how the Phillies have sputtered on offense. They have failed to do damage on non-fastballs this season, especially over the past two weeks. Almost every hitter on the roster has seen a dip in slugging percentage against off-speed and breaking pitches. Many have experienced radical declines. The team's slugging percentage against non-fastballs ranks 25th in MLB. Even more telling: Since May 27, the Phillies have averaged 3.08 runs per game. They are 3-9 in that span. They have slugged a measly .273 on non-fastballs during that stretch. That ranks 30th in MLB — 20 points lower than the next-worst offense. This was the scouting report that emerged last summer: The Phillies can be beaten with spin. But that wasn't always the case in 2024. The Phillies actually ranked fifth in the majors last season in slugging percentage against non-fastballs. They improved later in the season, their best damage on those pitches coming from Aug. 1 to the end of the regular season. Those adjustments have not translated to 2025. The Phillies have seen off-speed and breaking pitches at roughly the same rate as last season (45 percent), and opposing teams could exploit it further without Phillies hitters producing more on those pitches. Kevin Long, the club's veteran hitting coach, has philosophies rooted in being on time for the fastball. The Phillies remain a good-hitting team against fastballs; they have, so far, posted almost identical numbers against fastballs in 2025 as in 2024. It's just one snapshot in time. Maybe none of this matters. Paul Skenes fired fastballs 54 percent of the time in Sunday's outing — the highest rate in any of his 37 big-league starts. He allowed one unearned run in 7 2/3 innings. Advertisement Phillies center fielders have a .609 OPS through 65 games. That would be the franchise's worst mark at that position since at least 1901 and probably in the entire history of the Phillies. It's not good. (Somehow, in 2025, there are six teams with lower OPS marks from their center fielders. That is quite a commentary on the state of the position across baseball.) It would be one thing if the Phillies were receiving elite defense in center field. They are not. It would be one thing if this were a new problem. It is not. (The Phillies rank 26th in MLB in OPS from center fielders since 2020.) It would be one thing if the Phillies were getting production in the corner outfield spots to compensate. They have not. (Phillies left and right fielders rank 16th in OPS.) Nick Castellanos has been steady at the plate but a growing liability in the field. The platoon in left field, as of now, is a dud. Even if the Phillies wanted to swap Weston Wilson (4-for-27 with no extra-base hits against lefty pitchers) for a different platoon bat, the only righty-hitting outfielder at Triple A is journeyman Óscar Mercado. Max Kepler, making $10 million, has produced a .660 OPS. But the biggest outfield disappointment, by far, is Brandon Marsh against righties. Even if Marsh is not an everyday player, he has provided terrific value before in that specific role. He hit .281/.362/.469 against righties after his trade to the Phillies in 2022 through the 2024 season. This season: He's hit .225/.320/.315 in 103 plate appearances against righties. The lack of a power stroke is jarring. Marsh's last extra-base hit against a righty came May 25. He has one home run — hit in the second game of the season — against a righty. He crushed 15 homers off righties in 2024. Even if the Phillies were to consider something extreme, it's best not to promote a prospect while the team is in a downward swing. There would be greater pressure on, say, Justin Crawford to be an offensive savior when he profiles best as someone batting ninth in the majors while creating some havoc with his bat-to-ball skills and speed combo. Advertisement Demoting Marsh to the minors would be extreme; it could be one gambit to deliver a message to a sagging offense. Marsh has been at or below replacement level for most of the season. The Phillies would be justified in seeking a 'reset' for the 27-year-old outfielder. But it would be extreme. Johan Rojas hasn't been much better; he at least provides more range in the outfield — something the Phillies lack. There is no elegant solution here, and even if the Phillies were interested in acquiring a center fielder come July, there is no surplus of productive ones available. Cristopher Sánchez became the first Phillies starter this season to throw a pitch in the eighth inning, and that decision said a lot about the tightrope manager Rob Thomson walks. Sánchez had one of his best outings of the season — 96 pitches in seven innings with 21 swings-and-misses and one walk. But lefty Oneil Cruz, who was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Sánchez, led off the eighth. Sánchez walked him on four pitches. Cruz later scored the eventual winning run. Thomson had Orion Kerkering, who has pitched far better in the past five weeks, ready. But lefties have pummeled Kerkering for an .845 OPS this season. Thomson has no righty reliever he can trust against a team's best left-handed batter. His best right-on-left option might be Taijuan Walker (.637 OPS against), but Walker was not available because he cannot go on back-to-back days yet. Jordan Romano (.884 OPS versus lefties), Carlos Hernández (.987) and Joe Ross (.796) haven't been effective in those situations. The only bullpens with a worse OPS in right-on-left matchups are the Athletics and Dodgers. This is not a new problem; Phillies righty relievers permitted a league-worst .859 OPS to lefties last season. Matt Strahm cannot face every lefty in a high-leverage spot. This is where not having José Alvarado hurts. Advertisement Sánchez and Ranger Suárez at least put the rotation back on course with consecutive seven-inning performances. The Phillies played the weekend without three of their four highest-paid players (Zack Wheeler, Bryce Harper and Aaron Nola). Wheeler will return Monday to start against the Cubs, his first outing in 10 days. That should help. There will be a greater onus on Mick Abel to serve as a decent rotation piece while Nola's absence lingers. Andrew Painter's progressions will become even more important as the Phillies continue to exhaust internal options before the July 31 trade deadline. Painter is expected to pitch twice this week at Triple-A Lehigh Valley — Tuesday and Sunday — meaning he will go on four days' rest for the first time in his professional career. That is one of the final boxes the Phillies wanted the 22-year-old righty to check before coming to the majors. The best cover for a shaky bullpen is a strong rotation. But, as the Phillies discovered over the weekend, even that is rendered helpless without a semi-competent offense. (Top photo of Nick Castellanos reacting after striking out in the seventh on Saturday: Justin Berl / Getty Images)
