As club debuts go, Cengiz Ünder’s 22 minutes Tuesday in Columbus left the Los Angeles Football Club wanting more.
Not because the 27-year-old Turkish forward, on loan as a Designated Player through June 30, didn’t show up. But because he did.
Helping LAFC advance past the difficult Crew to a CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal series with Inter Miami during the first two weeks of April, Ünder came on in the 68th minute at Lower.com Field for starter David Martinez, who was a threat alongside Nathan Ordaz on the wing as LAFC pushed through the testy beginning of league play and two rounds of ConcaChampions.
Sealing the result deep into stoppage time, Ünder looked a step quicker, a hair more aware, a player to reckon with.
The left-footed attacker ran from deep in LAFC’s end to intercept a pass, springing an odd-man attack the other way. With Denis Bouanga lying in wait, Ünder put it on a tee for a player he was familiar with going back to their time as opponents in France.
“Initially, I was thinking about going to goal,” Ünder said Friday in his first comments with LAFC. “But I saw that Denis was up front and passed to him to make a score. The score was very important.
“That’s why I’m so grateful and happy about it.”
No stranger to Champions League competition in Europe, Ünder understands what awaits him and his new team against Inter Miami at home on April 2 (8:30 p.m.) and in Ft. Lauderdale on April 9 (5 p.m.).
Lionel Messi. Sergio Busquets. Jordi Alba. Luis Suarez.
“I played against them many times in Europe,” said Ünder, a veteran of the top French, Italian, English and, most recently, Turkish leagues. “Miami is a good team. But we need to play more aggressively since it’s going to be hard for them as well. I trust my team and trust my teammates and hopefully we will win and proceed.
“First we have games before this game. We need to pass this time and get good results. We need to focus on those matches and then the Miami match.”
A midday MLS affair Saturday against Austin FC at BMO Stadium caps a taxing stretch of eight games in four weeks.
Remaining alive for a third trip to the ConcaChampions final in three tries, LAFC is where it wants to be at this stage, especially if it can take three points from Ilie Sanchez’s new side.
The beloved 34-year-old Spanish midfielder left LAFC as a free agent in the winter after three years in L.A., scoring the MLS Cup-winning penalty in 2022 and serving as team captain in his final season.
“We had great success together and some great conversations and a good relationship,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said. “I’m personally looking forward to seeing him.
“I’m not looking forward to seeing him as an opponent because he’s a good and smart player.”
Sanchez started Austin’s three matches so far, a 1-0 win in the opener followed by a pair of losses by the same score as new high-powered goal scorers Brandon Vazquez and Myrto Uzuni have not hit the back of the net. The Verde will miss a pair of starting defenders, Julio Cascante and Mikkel Desler, with dodgy hamstrings.
LAFC hasn’t conceded a goal at home in four matches, but it will also be without gimpy center back Marlon.
For the first time in 2025, neither defender Maxime Chanot (head) nor midfielder Odin Holm (ankle) appears on the player status report.
Olivier Giroud does, however. The struggling French forward is out with a left thigh injury.
Austin FC at LAFC
When: 12:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: BMO Stadium
TV/radio: Apple TV (MLS Season Pass), FOX (Ch. 11), FOX Deportes/710 AM, ESPN LA App, 980 AM
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