LAFC advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals in the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs on Sunday night with a 4-1 win over Austin FC in Game 2 of their Round One Best-of-3 series at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas.
Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga assisted one another in the 21st and 25th minutes to give LAFC an early 2-0 advantage, then Bouanga added another in the 44th before Austin’s Dani Pereira pulled one back with a penalty kick just before halftime to end an action-packed first 45 minutes.
Late substitute Jeremy Ebobisse added the final goal in stoppage time to complete the scoring and seal the 4-1 result for the visitors.
The win pushed LAFC to the Western Conference Semifinals for the fourth straight season. No other MLS team has reached this stage of the MLS Cup Playoffs in each of the past four years. The Black & Gold will travel to face the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, November 22, or Sunday, November 23, in a winner-take-all match to determine who will move on to the Western Conference Final, which will be played on Saturday, November 29, or Sunday, November 30.
Austin, seeking to force the series to a Game 3, began Sunday’s match on the front foot until Bouanga won the ball from Mikkel Desler in LAFC’s half then sent it into space for Son, whose stepover-and-finish beat Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver to give LAFC a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute. Four minutes later it was Son who tracked down a long ball from Sergi Palencia, then served a ball across the pitch to Bouanga for a right-footed finish that provided a 2-0 cushion and also marked Bouanga’s 100th goal for LAFC in all competitions.
In the 37th minute Bouanga’s right arm inadvertently struck an Austin free kick in LAFC’s penalty area, giving Myrto Uzuni a chance to get on the board with a penalty kick, but the Albanian striker’s shot was saved by LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
In the 44th minute LAFC defender Ryan Porteous sent a free kick near the halfway line diagonally across the field to Ryan Hollingshead, who headed it into the path of Bouanga in the danger area. LAFC’s all-time leading scorer added to his record total with a juke and a right-footed shot past Stuver to make the score 3-0.
A foul called on Porteous in LAFC’s box provided Pereira with a penalty-kick opportunity that the Austin midfielder converted in first-half stoppage time to make the score 3-1 at the break.
In the 69th minute, an Austin transition moment gave substitute winger Jáder Obrian a chance to cut LAFC’s lead to one, but Lloris went to ground to make one of his three saves on the night.
LAFC controlled the remainder of the match, with Ebobisse, who came on for Son in the 88th minute, adding the final goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time following a 50-yard run and assist from the Black & Gold’s regular-season assist leader, Mark Delgado.
NOTES
- With the win, LAFC is now 11W-6L-1D all-time in the MLS Cup Playoffs, including a 10W-3L-1D mark under head coach Steve Cherundolo.
- LAFC is the only MLS team to reach the conference semifinals in each of the past four years. Last season, when LAFC reached the conference semis, it became the only MLS team to do so in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
- This is the second time LAFC has eliminated Austin FC from the MLS Cup Playoffs. The Black & Gold defeated Austin in the 2022 Western Conference Final at BMO Stadium, 3-0.
- Son’s goal was his 10th since joining LAFC and his first MLS postseason goal. His assist was his fourth this season in all competitions and his first in an MLS Cup Playoff match.
- Bouanga’s two goals were his 100th and 101st for LAFC in all competitions, and his ninth and tenth goals in the MLS Cup Playoffs, extending his lead as LAFC’s all-time leader in playoff goals (10 goals in 14 games).
- Of his 101 goals in all competitions, Bouanga has scored eight (8) against Austin, which trails only the Galaxy (10), San Jose (10), and Vancouver (9) among teams he has scored against most often.
- Bouanga moved past Seattle’s Jordan Morris (nine goals) to become the leader among all active players in postseason goals, with 10.
- This is the third time Bouanga has scored twice in a single MLS Cup Playoff game. He previously did so in a 5-2 win against Vancouver in Round One of the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs as well as against the Galaxy in the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals.
- Midfielder Andrew Moran and defender Artem Smoliakov made their LAFC postseason debuts (and MLS Cup Playoffs debuts) in the game. Moran replaced Nathan Ordaz in the 68th minute and Smoliakov came on for Palencia at the same time.
