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LAFC midfielder Timothy Tillman, front, kicks the ball against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC during the first half of an MLS match at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, on Sunday, June 29, 2025. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)
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LAFC midfielder Timothy Tillman, front, kicks the ball against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC during the first half of an MLS match at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, on Sunday, June 29, 2025. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)
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LOS ANGELES — Hoping a return home for league play following two weeks at the FIFA Club World Cup would push the Los Angeles Football Club in a positive direction leading into the second half of the Major League Soccer season wasn’t enough to get it done on Sunday.
Instead, the Vancouver Whitecaps made one shot on target and a 1-0 advantage last through the final whistle, as the visitors frustrated LAFC (7-5-5, 26 points), remained near the top of the Western Conference standings, and snapped a five-game winless streak at BMO Stadium.
Exiting the Club World Cup after three group stage matches, LAFC walked onto their home pitch with at least two games and as many as four games in hand on its conference foes, offering them an opportunity to rocket up the conference table if results went their way.
But after conceding five goals and the top spot in the west to San Diego FC on Wednesday, Vancouver (11-3-5, 38 points) reaffirmed its status as the least-scored-upon unit in MLS (19 goals allowed) by stopping LAFC from getting its busy summer schedule off on the right foot.
“We knew it was going to be a tough task tonight, but I don’t think fatigue played a role in that,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said. “Our opponent played this week as well on Wednesday, so I just think it’s maybe a little lack of quality we’re missing tonight and cohesiveness offensively.
“What we’ve been good at is being able to punish teams on the other end, and that wasn’t the case tonight and that’s why I think we lost.”
Vancouver, which drew LAFC 2-2 in British Columbia, Canada, in May, entered the contest missing seven players, including 2025 MLS All-Stars Brian White and Sebastian Berhalter, who joined the U.S. men’s national team during the Gold Cup.
LAFC placed four of 15 shots on target against their shorthanded opponents, yet it was the third time this year in MLS competition that they failed to score. LAFC had gone nine unbeaten in MLS going back to April 12, including a 4-0-1 run at home. For the seventh time in eight games, LAFC also conceded the opening goal.
In the 20th minute, Vancouver forward Emmanuel Sabbi cashed in a play he initiated at midfield. Maintaining his balance with the ball before connecting on a give-and-go through midfielder Jeevan Baldwal, Sabbi ran deep into the box, deftly controlled a driving cross, and in one fell swoop struck his shot beyond the reach of goalkeeper David Ochoa, who received his first playing time in place of Hugo Lloris.
“I’m always going to think I can save it,” said the 24-year-old Ochoa, who admitted to playing a “shaky” opening 20 minutes. “It’s tough though. You don’t have too much time to think. The way I saw it, he took a great touch. He shouldn’t be receiving so easily. But he takes a great touch and I thought just make myself as big as possible. I thought that’s what I did but unfortunately it still goes in.”
LAFC lost all three MLS regular season matches Lloris did not play in since he joined the club last season, and midway through the 2025 schedule, the Black & Gold is 1-5-4 when it falls behind first.
Appearing in his final game with LAFC after mutually agreeing to part ways following less than a year in L.A., French center forward Olivier Giroud made his first MLS start since April 27, joining Denis Bouanga and Javairô Dilrosun in his MLS debut.
Giroud, 38, sought to make a difference, drilling a left-footed shot over the bar in the 17th minute and trying another inside the box before the half among his game-high four attempts, but the striker’s effort looked a lot like many of his other matches with L.A.
A step slow. A hair off. Just not sharp enough.
As he departs for the French top flight with Lille in Ligue 1, Giroud predicted LAFC is “going very far this year in the league, and I hope so but they need to keep going, being more consistent in the small details.
“Like tonight, I felt we had the game in hand but conceded the goal. It was too easy. The player did great control and good finishing, but we can’t let that happen. Because we put so much effort to stay in the game and to attack. Consistency is the word I would say to keep improving and win something this year.”
Despite producing well below the expectations he arrived with last summer, the announced crowd of 22,126 wished Giroud a fond farewell when he was subbed off in the 60th minute for LAFC homegrown Nathan Ordaz. The young forward was among four changes Cherundolo made in the second half as the team searched for an equalizer.
“I think our attack looked very individual tonight instead as a group,” Cherundolo said. “I think we were lacking one or two more passes in the final third to finish some of those attacks and movements. And we’ll work on that. We’ll show the players that there were some golden opportunities out there that we missed due to poor decision making, very similar to what we saw at the Club World Cup and prior to that.”
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