LOS ANGELES — Ousseni Bouda netted two goals in the second half, breaking Hugo Lloris’ impressive season-opening scoreless stretch of 593 minutes, as the San Jose Earthquakes delivered a surprising 4-1 defeat to Los Angeles FC on Sunday night, marking an early clash in the Western Conference.
With this victory, San Jose (7-1-0) climbs to a tie for first place with the Vancouver Whitecaps in both the Western Conference and the Supporters’ Shield standings, continuing to establish its momentum in the second season under coach Bruce Arena.
Meanwhile, Daniel De Sousa Britto aimed for his sixth clean sheet but fell short when Reid Roberts scored an own goal in the 74th minute. De Sousa Britto made three saves during the match.
Bouda opened the scoring in the 53rd minute with assists from newcomer Timo Werner—his third assist—and Beau Leroux after a goalless first half.
Returning from a two-week absence due to a lower-body injury, Werner capitalized on a pass from Leroux just three minutes later, scoring his first MLS goal to extend the lead to 2-0. Leroux’s assist marked his fourth of the season, matching his total from last year in 33 matches as a rookie.
The scoring surge continued with an own goal from Ryan Porteous in the 59th minute, quickly bringing the advantage to 3-0 within a span of six minutes.
Bouda capped off the scoring with his fourth goal of the season in the 80th minute, assisted by Niko Tsakiris, who recorded a career-high fifth assist.
Lloris concluded the match with two saves as LAFC (5-2-1) suffered its second consecutive loss, landing at third place in the Western Conference. Lloris had not played in a previous 2-1 defeat against the Portland Timbers.
Notably, San Jose has emerged victorious in all four of its road matches this season.
Prior to this match, LAFC maintained a formidable record of 6-0-1 at BMO Stadium across all competitions, having outscored opponents 17-1.