LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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 straight 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."
UP NEXT
Vancouver travels to play Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. Los Angeles FC hits the road to play FC Dallas on Saturday.
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The Associated Press
