Playing in front of its home fans for the first time in nearly two months, LAFC collected its second consecutive win coming out of the FIFA World Cup break, defeating Real Salt Lake 3-1 at BMO Stadium on Wednesday night. Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga each tallied first-half goals for the Black & Gold before a DeAndre Yedlin own goal in the 68th minute capped LAFC’s scoring.
With the win, LAFC is now 9-5-3 on the season for 30 points. The club is in third place in the Western Conference, two points behind both the Vancouver Whitecaps and San Jose Earthquakes.
After scoring his first goal of the season in the win over the LA Galaxy last Friday night, Son made it two goals in as many games in the 11th minute on Wednesday night to put LAFC up 1-0. Nkosi Tafari’s long ball from inside his own half picked out Jacob Shaffelburg, who deftly laid the ball off into the path of Son. The Korean international ran at the Real Salt Lake defense before placing a left-footed shot just inside the post from the edge of the box to put the home side in front.
The score would stay that way until the 40th minute when Bouanga grabbed his team-best eighth league goal of the season and 13th in all competitions. Bouanga raced onto a perfectly weighted through-ball from Mathieu Choinière to get in behind the Salt Lake defense before cutting onto his right foot and firing a shot into the net from 12 yards out, giving LAFC a 2-0 halftime lead.
It became 3-0 in the 68th minute when Yedlin deflected a Son cross past goalkeeper Rafael Cabrera for an own goal.
Real Salt Lake outshot LAFC 27-11 on the night but thanks to six saves from Hugo Lloris, tying a season-high, the visitors were unable to get on the scoreboard until the 86th minute. Lukas Engel made the score 3-1 when his deflected strike from close range beat Lloris. That goal snapped LAFC’s streak of 297 minutes without conceding a goal, dating back to May 17 against Nashville SC. However, that would be as close as Salt Lake would get and LAFC walked away with the victory.
NOTES
- With the win, LAFC is now 9W-5L-3D for 30 points this season and 14-6-5 in all competitions.
- LAFC has won three straight games dating back to a 1-0 win over Seattle on May 24. This is LAFC’s second three-game winning streak in the league this season, having opened the season with four consecutive victories.
- At home this year, LAFC is 9-2-1 in all competitions, including 6-2-1 in MLS play.
- LAFC has now won each of the last three meetings with Real Salt Lake, outscoring them 11-3 in that time. Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-Min each have five goals in those three games with Bouanga adding an assist and Son contributing three.
- All-time, LAFC is 9-2-1 at home against RSL.
- Hugo Lloris finished the game with six saves, equaling his season-high from the home win over Orlando City on April 4. This is the fourth time since Lloris joined the club that he has made six saves in a regular-season game, while he has made seven twice.
- Son’s assist in the 40th minute was his MLS-best 10th of the season. In 25 all-time regular-season games with LAFC, he now has 24 goal involvements with 11 goals and 13 assists.
- In 23 games in all competitions with LAFC this year, Son has 17 assists, having tallied seven in the Champions Cup.
- Nkosi Tafari was credited with an assist on Son’s first-half goal, giving him two on the season. That is his most in a season since tallying four for FC Dallas in 2023.
- Mathieu Choinière’s three assists are tied for the second-most of his MLS career, two shy of his career-high of five in 2023 when he played for CF Montreal.
- After making his LAFC debut on Friday night against the Galaxy, Yevhen Cheberko made his home debut for the club, playing the full 90 minutes at left back.
