Los Angeles and Querétaro shared the spoils in a League Cup group stage encounter at BMO Stadium on Wednesday night. The match finished 1:1 after ninety minutes before D. Bouanga stepped up to convert the decisive penalty and send the hosts through.
Querétaro took the lead early enough to settle any nerves. A. Avila found the net in the twelfth minute, and here's the thing — the home side had already begun to press for an equaliser rather than wait.
D. Bouanga ended the barren spell in the fifty-seventh minute. The striker took advantage of a period where Los Angeles were carving them open with their attacks, and the twenty-seven dribbles told their own story.
By then the match had drifted into extra time, and penalties came as little surprise. The shootout ran its course: Bouanga scored his spot-kick, Son Heung-Min added another, and R. Hollingshead made it three. Querétaro missed through D. Parra, and R. Porteous sealed it for the hosts.
The statistics did not lie about the imbalance in play. Los Angeles held sixty-nine percent possession and launched one hundred and sixty-one attacks against sixty-three for the visitors. Five shots on target yielded two goals in the end, though the accuracy figure of twenty-nine percent hardly reflects the outcome.
That result matters more than the numbers. Los Angeles move forward in the group stage, while Querétaro's recent run of defeats — three losses in their last three — continues to weigh on them.