AUSTIN, Texas — Denis Bouanga had two goals and an assist on Sunday night to help LAFC beat Austin FC 4-1 and sweep the best-of-three series in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs.
LAFC, which won Game 1 2-1, plays at second-seeded Vancouver in the one-game Western Conference semifinals.
Son Heung-min added a goal and an assist for No. 3 seed LAFC. Jeremy Ebobisse replaced Son in the 88th minute and capped the scoring in the third minute of stoppage time.
Son, on the counter-attack, hesitated to freeze defender Ilie Sánchez at the top of the area and then exploded toward the left end line and blasted a shot from the corner of the six-yard box inside the back post to open the scoring in the 21st. About four minutes later, Son fed Bouanga for a finish — the 30-year-old’s 100th goal across all competitions for LAFC — into a wide-open net to make it 2-0.
Bouanga cut inside to evade defender Brendan Hines-Ike — who fell to the ground — and then flicked a shot into the net from the left center of the area in the 44th minute.
Bouanga is the only active player — and is one of just nine in history — with at least 10 career goals in the MLS Cup playoffs.
LAFC’s Hugo Lloris — who was second in MLS with 12 shutouts in the regular season — had three saves, including a diving stop on a penalty kick by Myrto Uzuni in the 39th minute after a hand ball in the area by Bouanga.
Ryan Porteous was shown a yellow card for a foul in the area and Dani Pereira converted from the spot in the sixth minute of stoppage time to make it 3-1 at halftime.
CJ Fodrey appeared to have cut sixth-seeded Austin’s deficit to 3-2 in the 71st minute but an offsides call nullified the would-be goal.
How good is Son Heung-min? On the night LAFC celebrated Carlos Vela’s induction into the team’s ring of honor, Vela asked for Son’s autograph.
And he’s not the only one. Small crowds of fans have begun gathering outside LAFC’s training center at Cal State Los Angeles, some waiting for hours, to request Son’s signature on scraps of paper, photos and plush likenesses of the South Korean star in a Tottenham uniform.
On a recent afternoon, Son stopped his car and obliged every one of them.
Forget, for a moment, what he’s done on the field — which isn’t easy to forget since he’s scored six times and assisted on three other goals in seven games, only one of which LAFC lost.
The transformation Son has brought everywhere else since joining the team seven weeks ago has been breathtaking.
He arrived just as the dog days of summer were becoming ferocious. LAFC had been eliminated from the FIFA Club World Cup and the Leagues Cup, had won just four of its last 12 games in all competition and faced a severely compacted fixture schedule going forward.
Yet by dint of personality alone, Son immediately lightened the mood.
“He brings a smile to work every day,” coach Steve Cherundolo said.
A month later he was even more effusive.
“What I’m most impressed [with] is how Sonny treats people. His fans and his teammates,” Cherundolo said. “He’s an incredible human being. He’s very gracious. He’s patient. And he’s just a fine human being.”
That’s why everyone from teammates to security guards at the team’s training center use superlatives like humble, special, gracious, down to earth — and, yes, nice — when describing Son.
Midfielder Timothy Tillman, who was born in Germany, said Son, who played there for five years, surprised him when he began speaking to him in “very good” German.
“I love that he’s talking German with me. Having someone speak in German on the team feels good,” said Tillman, who quickly added what’s become the rote reaction to Son.
“I really, really like him,” he said. “I like that he’s here.”
LAFC’s Son Heung-Min forms a rectangle with his fingers after scoring against Real Salt Lake on Sept. 17.
(Chris Gardner / Getty Images)
Being kind hardly qualifies one for the Nobel Prize. Nor does being liked and appreciated by your co-workers. In many ways, those things seem like the bare minimum we should expect from one another.
But those traits are, many times, rare among superstar athletes — or celebrities in any field. Vela, an MLS MVP and the league’s single-season scoring champion, was often moody and aloof during his seven years at LAFC. Zlatan Ibrahimovic dominated the score sheet during his two seasons in MLS, yet he wasn’t shy about harshly criticizing teammates, which may be one reason why the Galaxy won fewer than half the games he played in.
Son, on the other hand, lifts everyone around him. Last spring, as he neared his final season in the Premier League with Tottenham, an English journalist — who rated players on charity, personality and sportsmanship — christened Son the nicest player in soccer history. (Speaking of sportsmanship, in 2019 when a dangerous Son challenge fractured the ankle of Everton’s André Gomes, Son broke into tears on the pitch. After apologizing — profusely and repeatedly — to Gomes, Son refused to celebrate two Champions League goals against Red Star Belgrade, choosing instead to look into the TV cameras with his palms pressed together in prayer for Gomes’ recovery.)
Now that Son, 33, is playing in the U.S., MLS is getting its first up-close look at what fans in South Korea, England and Germany have known about the player for years. And Son’s kindness and humanity is proving contagious.
Last week teammate Denis Bouanga, who is in the race for the MLS Golden Boot, declined to shoot at an open net, instead slipping the ball to Son, who scored to complete his first MLS hat trick.
“I could have scored. The goal was open,” Bouanga admitted through a translator. “It was good for him to have the feeling to score a hat trick. We celebrated together.”
On Sunday, Son returned the favor, setting up two of Bouanga’s three goals. Bouanga’s second hat trick in three games gave him 22 goals for the season and tied him with Lionel Messi for the league lead. It also made him the first player in MLS history to score at least 20 times in three successive seasons.
“Sonny is a very good player and a very good pal on the field and outside the field,” Bouanga added. “This connection that we have, this chemistry, it was automatic.”
Transformative too: Bouanga and Son have combined for all 12 goals in their team’s last three games — all wins — becoming the first teammates to score hat tricks in three straight games. The most potent attacking duo in the league has also given LAFC (14-7-8) a firm grip on a home playoff berth and made it a legitimate MLS Cup contender.
Son, predictably, deflected the praise, saying that he appreciated the welcome he’s received.
“What should I say? I never expected, to be honest, that welcome or support,” he said after Sunday’s win. “It seems very crazy. But I love that. I’m a very, very happy guy, lucky guy, having this amazing support behind me. I want to give always something back.
“I just want to say thank you.”
That’s exactly what everyone at LAFC has been saying since Son arrived.
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Denis Bouanga scored three goals, his second hat trick in the last three games, and LAFC beat Real Salt Lake 4-1 on Sunday night at BMO Stadium.
Bouanga, who has scored in four consecutive games, has 22 goals this season, tied with Lionel Messi for the most in MLS. Bouanga had 20 goals in each of the last two seasons and is the first player in MLS history with at least 20 goals in three consecutive seasons.
The 30-year-old Bouanga, who also had three goals in a 4-2 win over San José on Sept. 13, has a club-record four career hat tricks in the regular season, one more than Carlos Vela.
Son Heung-min added a goal and two assists for LAFC (14-7-8).
LAFC, which clinched a playoff spot when St. Louis beat San José 3-1 on Saturday, has 50 points and is fourth in the Western Conference. Third-place Minnesota has 54 points and Seattle is fifth with 45.
Son, who had his first MLS hat trick in LAFC’s 4-1 win over Salt Lake on the road Wednesday, has seven goals in the past three games.
Salt Lake (10-16-4) has lost five of six.
Bouanga scored in the first minute of first-half stoppage time and Son bounced a shot from outside the area off the near post and into the net a couple minutes later to give LAFC a 2-1 lead at halftime.
Bouanga added goals in the 73rd and 87th minutes.
Brayan Vera scored his first goal of the season in the 14th minute on a left-foot shot from well outside the area that slipped under the crossbar and inside the back post to give Salt Lake a 1-0 lead.
Salt Lake (10-15-4) has lost four of its last five matches.
Son, who joined LAFC (13-7-8) a month ago from the English Premier League, scored on a breakaway in the third minute for a 1-0 lead. He was left wide open in the middle of the field in the 16th and scored from distance to make it 2-0.
Son ran with Denis Bouanga from midfield on a 2-on-1 breakaway and scored an easy tap-in for a 3-1 advantage. Bouanga scored six minutes later on another breakaway to break a tie with league legend Carlos Vela for the most goals in club history with 94.
RSL missed a penalty kick in the 45th when Rwan Cruz’s attempt hit off the right post and went across the goal line to goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who had gone the other way.
SANTA CLARA — Denis Bouanga finished with a hat trick after Son Heung-min scored in the first minute and LAFC beat the San José Earthquakes 4-2 on Saturday night at Levi Stadium.
Son gave LAFC (12-7-8) the lead when he used passes from rookie Artem Smolyakov and Mark Delgado to score 54 seconds into the match. It was Son’s second goal in five matches since transferring from Tottenham Hotspur. He ties for the third fastest goal in club history. Smolyakov’s assist was his first in his 19th appearance and Delgado’s was his career-high eighth.
Bouanga took over from there — scoring in the ninth, 12th and 87th minutes for his third career three-goal effort in regular-season play. Bouanga, who won the Golden Boot Award in 2023, has 18 goals on the season — three behind league leader Sam Surridge of Nashville SC.
Preston Judd scored in the 18th minute for the Earthquakes, whose final tally came on an own goal by LAFC defender Sergi Palencia in the 90th minute. Judd’s netter was his career-best seventh. Palencia had assists on two of Bouanga’s goals.
Hugo Lloris saved three shots for LAFC (12-7-8).
Daniel De Sousa Britto totaled two saves for the Earthquakes (9-13-8).
LAFC pulls one point behind the fourth-place Seattle Sounders in the Western Conference with the top four seeds earning home-field advantage in the best-of-three first round.
LAFC travels to play Real Salt Lake on Wednesday. The Earthquakes host St. Louis City on Saturday.
Denis Bouanga scored on a first-half penalty kick and Hugo Lloris made it stand up for his third straight clean sheet as LAFC edged Minnesota United 1-0 on Wednesday night.
Bouanga scored his 11th goal when he sent a right-footed shot past Dayne St. Clair in the 42nd minute. The PK was awarded after Jeremy Ebobisse was fouled by defender Nicolás Romero, who received a yellow card.
Lloris finished with three saves for his league-high-tying ninth clean sheet of the season for LAFC (10-5-5).
St. Clair entered with nine shutouts and totaled five saves for Minnesota United (11-5-7), which falls to 6-3-3 at home.
Minnesota United has just one home win over LAFC, which joined the league in 2018. That came in March of last season in the debut of Minnesota manager Eric Ramsay.
LAFC posted a 1-0 victory over Minnesota United at home in the season opener.
LAFC improves to 2-3-4 on the road. The club was coming off shutout wins at home over the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas by a combined 5-0 score.
Denis Bouanga scored on a penalty kick and assisted on Nathan Ordaz’s goal as LAFC defeated FC Dallas 2-0 at BMO Stadium on Saturday night.
Hugo Lloris made one save as LAFC (9-5-5) recorded its second straight shutout and won for the second time in three games since it went winless during the Club World Cup.
LAFC put 10 shots on goal.
Ordaz took a pass from Bouanga in the penalty box, spun and booted a right-footed shot into the right side of the goal in the 31st minute.
Bouanga made it 2-0 when he converted into the right side in the 45th minute, after he was fouled by Shaq Moore.
LAFC captain and defender Aaron Long was carted off in the 76th minute for an apparent leg injury.
