While he did manage to notch three goals in the Black & Gold’s push at the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals, it cannot be denied that fans were still waiting for Denis Bouanga to break his scoring drought eight games into the season and launch LAFC back into the top of the league – and he finally delivered when it mattered most.

Bouanga scored a promising goal late in a 1-1 affair with the San Jose Earthquakes, and it was the game-winning shot that allowed LAFC to escape with a 2-1 win over their rivals and get back to a winning pace heading into their weekend clash with the Portland Timbers. Now the LAFC star is finally back in action, and fans are expecting bigger things to come for the club moving forward.

Bouanga was scoreless in his previous five games across all competitions this season, and now he’s finally back into the mix and will likely get a promising pace up and running now more than ever. Ranked seventh overall, LAFC seeks to get back on track and get into a competitive form in order to rally their cause for another playoff campaign.

A Rough Start

Coming off two seasons with high-scoring numbers for LAFC, much has been expected in Bouanga’s fourth stint with LAFC. It can be remembered that he scored 20 38 goals in his first full season with the team, and later followed that up with 28 goals in the 2024 campaign. So far – Bouanga has four goals in total, with three of those coming in the CONCACAF campaign.

"It's always complicated to score the first goal," Bouanga said via a translator after the match. "I missed another opportunity. Now that I scored that goal, it should be okay. Other goals are going to come."

After being eliminated by Inter Miami midweek and riding two losses in a row, LAFC definitely needed a positive result to get back on the winning path for the season, and Bouanga’s goal definitely played a huge role in setting them up for a promising pace at this point.

So far, being able to bounce back when it mattered most has been one of the known characteristics for LAFC, and Bouanga’s show of response after not being able to score in MLS games has been fun to watch.

Bounceback Run

For manager Steve Cherundolo, LAFC’s losses will always come and go, Bouanga’s return to scoring is a sign of good things to come for the team at this point – a season where almost nothing has been right so far. His 86th-minute goal proved to be a satisfying sight, especially as it meant getting all three points in a key match.

"It's part of every finishing drill. When you finish, you don't shoot and stop; you always see if there's a rebound," he said. "We basically tell our attackers... there is an opportunity to score, no matter if it's unrealistic or easy, always score."It's part of every finishing drill. When you finish, you don't shoot and stop; you always see if there's a rebound," he said. "We basically tell our attackers... there is an opportunity to score, no matter if it's unrealistic or easy, always score.

Bouanga is definitely satisfied with his performances and knows that he could have done better in the past few games that ended up as a loss. Now that he’s finally clinched a goal for this season, maybe he can find his rhythm and start serving up winning plays for the team in the coming weeks.