Vancouver Whitecaps defender Ranko Veselinovic, left, defends against Los Angeles FC forward Denis Bouanga (99) during the second half of an MLS soccer match in Los Angeles, on June 24.Ashley Landis/The Associated Press
Defender Ranko Veselinovic scored in the second minute, Ryan Gauld had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Whitecaps never trailed in a 3-2 victory over Los Angeles FC on Saturday night.
Vancouver (6-5-7) beat the defending champions on the road for the first time in its eighth attempt. The Whitecaps had lost three straight on the road coming into the match and were 0-8-7 in their last 15 away from home.
LAFC (9-4-5) had won back-to-back matches entering play after a 0-5-1 winless skid.
Gauld had a hand in Veselinovic’s first goal this season and the third of his career. Gauld and Sergio Córdova set up Brian White’s seventh goal of the campaign to give the Whitecaps a 2-0 lead in the 23rd minute.
Dénis Bouanga scored unassisted in the 45th minute to pull LAFC within a goal at halftime. Bouanga has 11 goals this season, second in the league to the 13 of Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar.
Gauld picked up a goal for the fourth straight match when he scored unassisted in the 63rd minute for a 3-1 lead. That came in handy when LAFC’s Carlos Vela took a pass from Mateusz Bogusz in the 68th minute and found the net for a sixth time this season. Gauld and Lucas Cavallini – last season – are the only Whitecaps to score in four consecutive contests.
LAFC was coming off a first-minute goal by Bogusz in a 1-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday. It was the first time a club won a 1-0 match on a first-minute goal since Allan Cruz did it for FC Cincinnati in a win over CF Montreal in 2019.
Gauld’s scoring streak comes after a 13-match scoreless run.
Vancouver coach Vanni Sartini said he liked his team’s effort on the road, and the end result, but noted a few mistakes allowed the hosts back into a game that the Whitecaps had under control. It was only the 11th defeat for L.A. FC in 89 regular-season home matches.
“I really think today there was more than a one-goal difference between us and them. I think it’s one of the top performances of the season I would say,” said Sartini. “I think the right result should have been 3-1 or 4-2, not 3-2.”