“You couldn't draw up a better night.”

It began with singing and dancing outside BMO Stadium and ended in much the same way at center pitch, as LAFC celebrated its first and most decorated player, Mexican legend Carlos Vela, with a pregame festival that included mariachi music and Aztec dancing, and postgame celebrations that continued long after the final whistle. In between, Vela’s two successors as LAFC’s top goal scorer and its global megastar—Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-Min—put on a show that rivaled the postgame fireworks.

Vela, returning to the stadium he had christened seven years earlier, capped off the evening by singing the traditional, post-victory “Sha La La” with the entire team – a team that has revived Vela’s legacy of thrilling, high-flying football. At the heart of that resurgence have been two international stars who came to LA with a dream like the one Vela dreamed back in 2018 – a dream of what they could help build here.

When Noche de Carlos Vela and LAFC’s 4-1 win over Real Salt Lake were complete, Son said that it had been “an honor” just to be involved.

“Scoring goals in front of the packed stadium is really special,” said the South Korean superstar, who notched his first goal in front of LAFC’s home fans since joining the club six weeks ago. “I wanted to play with the fans together, especially when [we were] one-nil down. We needed big support from the supporters behind us. They did a fantastic job. And then afterwards our performance, our energy, went really up. Scoring four goals in front of a packed stadium—it was very [joyous], I would say.

“And also I am very happy for Denis.”

Bouanga, for his part, continued to topple records and extend his lead atop LAFC’s all-time scoring list with his second hat trick in three games, as LAFC solidified its top-four standing in the Western Conference table with the playoffs just one month away. But the night was dedicated not to Son or Bouanga but to the man who had laid the foundation for them, and for the 22,901 diverse spectators who enjoyed yet another unforgettable evening in a stadium that has seen more than its share of them since Vela took the pitch for LAFC’s first game back in 2018.

RETURN OF THE KING

Vela, the former star in Europe and with the Mexican National Team who joined LAFC when BMO Stadium was just a construction site—then went on to lift the club to its first MLS title just four years later, setting individual and team records along the way—came back to BMO for the first time since announcing his retirement earlier this year. Joined by his wife and two children at mid-pitch, he was honored in a pregame ceremony as the first member of LAFC’s Ring of Honor. Throughout the match and all evening he was feted with familiar chants of “Car-los Ve-la!”

“This is a special moment for me, for my family,” Vela told the capacity crowd prior to kickoff. “When I signed many years ago, I accepted the challenge to build a club, to build history for a club, to create a competitive team, a winning team. And after all these years I feel proud of where we are. I feel proud of all the memories we have.”

Son, whose left-footed goal just before halftime was reminiscent of Vela’s trademark scoring style, said: “Carlos, even I was in Europe I was watching clips when he was playing for this club. He did a fantastic job for this club. He's always welcome … the fans love him and the club loves him and it was good to see him on the pitch. Everybody was happy to see him. And one day I want to be like him as well, so when I'm retiring, when I come back to LA I hope everybody welcomes me like this.”

“You put a lot of effort into building something,” said head coach Steve Cherundolo, who managed Vela in 2022 and 2023 and during his brief return to the club last fall. “From my perspective on the technical side, it's coaching, it's the everyday training, it's trying to get results and build something that our fans are proud of … I think this club deserves to and should celebrate moments like that— like we did tonight with Carlos. Because there's a lot of hard work and dedication that gets put into it. Taking a break to celebrate something or someone is very important. I'm very, very happy to see Carlos celebrate it tonight in this fashion. I think it was wonderful. And I always love seeing him. He puts a smile on my face for sure.”

The team’s current form made for an ideal backdrop, said midfielder Mark Delgado. “It was perfect timing to have a night to for Carlos Vela,” Delgado said. “I think the momentum we've built and the fluidity we have, the momentum we have right now, we're gelling really well. So to have the night while the team's doing really well, it was just perfect timing overall. I think you couldn't draw up a better night for it, right?”

A HAT TRICK OF HAT TRICKS

Among the evening’s many bright spots, LAFC became the first club in MLS history to have a player record a hat trick in three consecutive games. (Bouanga netted three goals on September 13 in San Jose and Son did it at Real Salt Lake on September 17.)

“The chemistry is very easy,” Bouanga said of his relationship with Son, who debuted in black and gold on August 9. “You saw Sonny play in Europe and you see him now in MLS, it's very easy. I don't really have a way to describe it but it's natural. It happened, you saw it, you see it now, and you're going to see it until the end of the season.”

In the seven games since Son’s debut, Bouanga has scored nine goals, with Son directly involved in four of those. The duo has combined to score LAFC’s last 14 goals, dating back to its 1-1 draw in Dallas on August 23. Bouanga has eight goals in that span while Son has six.

“It just makes our job a lot easier knowing that you have quality up top,” said Delgado, LAFC’s assist leader this season. “You can just create fluidity in the midfield knowing Sonny's going to be there and Denis is being a threat in behind, but also connecting well with Sonny, so it just makes your job a lot easier."

20-20-20 VISION

Bouanga’ first goal—the product of a nifty give-and-go with Son—made him the first player to score 20 goals in three consecutive seasons. Only one other player has done it in three non-consecutive years: former LAFC forward and current MLS Season Pass analyst Bradley Wright-Phillips, who scored 20 goals for NY Red Bulls in 2014, 2016, and 2018. “He was lights out,” Wright-Phillips said Sunday night of Bouanga’s performance. “He just couldn’t be played against today.”

Bouanga, whose performance earned him MLS Player of the Matchday honors for the fourth time in his career, collected his fourth regular-season hat trick since joining the Black & Gold in August 2022, moving him past Vela for the most in LAFC history. It was Bouanga’s sixth hat trick in an LAFC shirt across all competitions.

“I feel very good right now and we continue on a very good path,” Bouanga said in French after the match. “I try to be decisive at every game, which could be scoring a goal or passing—giving an assist.”

Son, a veteran of the English Premier League and Germany’s Bundesliga, could only tip his cap. “In Europe, it's extremely hard to find someone who scores three seasons in a row 20 goals,” Son said. “Having him in our team is huge … Denis I think is one of the high, high quality players. So yes, scoring 20 goals in one season is a massive, massive thing. Credit to Denis because he works hard to help the team. It's not random, you know, it's not lucky. He works really hard to be always in position scoring goals and we should appreciate [him] for that.”

Asked for the keys to Bouanga’s success, Cherundolo said: “It's a combination of technique obviously, he understands how to finish plays, [plus] his physical attributes. He is extremely durable. He plays every game for his country, Gabon, and flies halfway across the planet, comes back, gets off the plane and plays for us and does not want to be taken off the field. And then you throw in his competitiveness in training. In every game he's always trying to score, always going, going, going, and without those attributes and those characteristics I don't think it's achievable.”

Like Son, Bouanga loves scoring at home. Of his club-record 97 career goals for LAFC, 59 have been scored at BMO Stadium (61 percent). Seven have come against RSL. Bouanga has scored five against LAFC’s next opponent, St. Louis City.

A PAIR OF [GOLDEN] BOOTS?

Bouanga’s performance vaulted him into a first-place tie atop this year’s MLS Golden Boot race, with 22 goals. The co-leader, Lionel Messi of Inter Miami, has six games remaining in the regular season while LAFC has five. Bouanga—the 2023 Golden Boot winner—is aiming to become just the third player to win the award more than once, joining Wright-Phillips and former San Jose star Chris Wondolowski.

“Winning the Golden Boot of course is a goal,” Bouanga said, “but what is most important is to stay focused every game and to be decisive for my team.”

He was both of those things on Sunday night, in front of a player who holds a few MLS and club records himself. Of his decision to join Vela in LA three years ago, Bouanga said, “I came to play football, and thanks to my performance the team is winning. I want to win and I feel that is the team's goal also. To win. This winning mentality – that's the state of mind I came in, and that's what I found here [with] the whole team and all the players supporting me.”

RAYS OF SON

Since making his MLS debut in Chicago on August 9, Son has scored six goals and added three assists. His nine goal contributions account for half of the 18 goals LAFC has scored in that time— and that doesn’t count the penalty Son earned in Chicago, which Bouanga converted to bring that game level in the closing minutes.

Cherundolo credited Son’s success thus far to “two very simple words, intensity and quality. Those moments in any player are what makes the difference, and if you watch games at the highest level, every player on the field has intensity and quality together. And that combination is lethal. And Sonny brings exactly that to our team, and to our league.”

When Son was asked about his impact on and off the field in LA, he said: “On the pitch I don't have to do too much stuff because the players are helping me so much. And with the big Korean community I think it's obviously very helpful. Coming to the stadium you [receive the] biggest support and [I feel] like a very special player. But obviously I want to always give something back—the results and also the happiness.”

Of the Korean supporters who helped BMO Stadium reach its capacity Sunday night, Son added: “What should I say? I mean, it's never expected, to be honest—that welcoming or that support. It seems quite crazy. But I love that. That's why we love football and that's why we love being footballers, you know? I’m a very happy guy, lucky guy, having this amazing support behind me.”

BRAVO, BACK LINE

Not to be lost beneath the bright lights and the rampant goal-scoring was another stout defensive performance from a team that recently lost its best center back (and captain) and its starting defensive midfielder to season-ending injuries. RSL’s only goals over the last two matches came on a flying scissor-kick and a 25-yard rocket, both perfectly placed in the upper corner.

LAFC has allowed the second-fewest shots in MLS this season and is second in MLS in goal differential (Vancouver is first in both categories). Cherundolo said that Son and Bouanga are partially to thank for that, as well.

“When they are both as prolific as they are it gives the rest of the team energy. It gives their defensive work and their suffering purpose, and that is very important. If you are a defender, you will run gladly for whatever, 100 minutes, however long we play if your attackers are finishing plays like Denis and Sonny are finishing plays.”

As his time with LAFC comes to a close—Cherundolo will step down and return to Germany with his family at the end of this season— he kept LAFC’s current run in perspective.

“The only thing we accomplished was three points,” he said, “and yes, I understand the individual accolades players get and deserve. Denis is an incredible attacker. Tonight we celebrated Carlos, another incredible attacker. Oh, and there’s Sonny too. And it's incredible to have coached all three of those players and two of them now at the same time. And I can tell you that this team is locked in and focused to maximize our potential and whatever the rest of the season has in store for us. We feel very good about ourselves at the moment.

“We're going to use every bit of confidence and momentum we have to finish the season out as strong as possible going into playoffs.”

LAFC returns to action on Saturday, September 27, when the club travels to St. Louis to take on St. Louis CITY SC at 5:30 p.m. PT. The game can be seen live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, with radio coverage available on 710 AM ESPN, the ESPN LA app, KYPA 1230 AM [Korean], and 980 AM La Mera Mera [Spanish].