LAFC edges Minnesota for 3rd straight shutout victory

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Denis Bouanga scored on a first-half penalty kick and Hugo Lloris made it stand up for his third straight clean sheet as LAFC edged Minnesota United, 1-0, on Wednesday night.

Bouanga scored his 11th goal when he sent a right-footed shot past Dayne St. Clair into the top left corner in the 42nd minute. The PK was awarded after Jeremy Ebobisse was fouled by defender Nicolás Romero, who received a yellow card.

Lloris finished with three saves for his league-high-tying ninth clean sheet of the season for LAFC (10-5-5, 35 points), which won in Minnesota for the first time ever in its seventh try (1-5-1).

Dayne St. Clair entered with nine shutouts and totaled five saves for Minnesota United (11-5-7, 40 points), which had a four-match unbeaten streak (3-0-1) end and dropped to 6-3-3 at home.

Both goalkeepers had to make diving two-handed saves to prevent goals in the first 22 minutes and keep the game scoreless. St. Clair’s came in the eighth minute when he turned away Bouanga’s curling free kick outside the box that was headed for the left corner, while Lloris stopped Joaquin Pereyra’s left-footed try from outside the middle of the box by the right post.

LAFC, playing its first match without team captain and star center-back Aaron Long, who ruptured his left Achilles tendon in a 2-0 victory over FC Dallas on Saturday, employed a five-man back line that shut down the Loons in the second half. Minnesota’s best scoring chance came in the 71st minute when Joseph Rosales tried a sharp-angle shot from the left side of the box that Lloris easily saved.

Bouanga twice had chances to add an insurance goal late in the game, but his one-on-one chip try against St. Clair from the middle of the box in the 87th minute went wide and St. Clair made a sliding kick save on his breakaway right-footed try in the 90th minute.

LAFC, which posted a 1-0 victory over Minnesota at home in the season opener, improved to 2-3-4 on the road. The club has outscored Colorado, FC Dallas and Minnesota 6-0 in its past three games.

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LAFC plays host to the rival Galaxy on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.