AUSTIN, Texas — Owen Wolff scored in a goal in the 83rd minute, Brad Stuver had two saves, and Austin FC beat LAFC 1-0 on Sunday night to snap LAFC’s six-game win streak.
LAFC (17-8-8) has 59 points, one behind second-place San Diego and one ahead of Minnesota in the Western Conference. Vancouver has 63 points.
Austin (13-12-8) has 47 points and will be the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference for the MLS Cup playoffs, which begin Oct. 22.
Wolff’s goal ended LAFC’s shutout streak at 429 minutes, dating to Sept. 21 against Salt Lake.
Zan Kolmanic played a corner kick into the area that deflected off the head of LAFC’s Eddie Segura before Wolff headed home the finish inside the back post.
Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min did not play (international duty) for LAFC. Bouanga is second in MLS with 24 goals this season and Son has eight goals and three assists in eight starts since signing with LAFC on Aug. 6.
The match had been scheduled for July 5, but was rescheduled due to severe weather and flooding in the area.
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.
LAFC defender Aaron Long will miss the rest of the season after having surgery to repair a ruptured left Achilles.
The team — which said the surgery was successful — made the announcement on Tuesday, three days after Long was injured in the 76th minute of a 2-0 win over Dallas.
The 32-year-old Long is in his third season with LAFC and has started all 15 games this year, scoring one goal. He’s started 60 games for the club over the last three seasons.
Long has also made 35 career appearances with the U.S. men’s national team, with three goals and two assists. He was part of the 2022 World Cup roster and last played for the national team in 2023 at the Gold Cup.
LAFC is currently in sixth place in the MLS Western Conference standings with a 9-5-5 record.
AUSTIN, Texas — The Major League Soccer game between LAFC and Austin FC was postponed Saturday because of inclement weather.
“The decision was made due to severe weather impacting the safety of travel in Central Texas and with guidance from relevant local authorities,” Austin FC said in a statement.
A new date for the match at Q2 Stadium will be announced at a later date.
In the statement, Austin also expressed sympathy for those affected by flooding in the state, which has claimed the lives of at least 43 people. There are also 27 children missing from a summer camp.
“Our hearts go out to the families, friends, and neighbors who have lost their lives, and we urge that those who are able find their way to safety,” the club said. “We also want to express our gratitude and respect for those who are responding to the crisis with life saving measures.”
“We’re definitely close,” the LAFC midfielder said of the coach he played for in three MLS Cup finals.
So it’s been difficult for Delgado to watch from afar as Vanney’s Galaxy team, the one Delgado played for last season, has struggled through the worst start in franchise history.
“I definitely hope, personally, things go better for him,” Delgado said of Vanney, who got a multiyear contract extension Friday, one that reportedly makes him the best-paid manager in MLS. “I hope Greg can get things turned around.”
As long as that turnaround starts next weekend since Delgado returns Sunday to Dignity Health Sports Park for the first time since December’s MLS Cup final. Only this time he’ll be wearing the black and gold of LAFC, the Galaxy’s bitter rival.
“Yeah, definitely. I want to come out on top,” he said. “It’s kind of a weird situation. You don’t wish them too well because you want to do well yourself.”
A weird situation is also an apt description of Delgado’s last five months. Six weeks after capping a career-best season by assisting on the winning goal in the Cup final, Delgado was traded 12 miles up the Harbor Freeway to LAFC, a sacrifice to the league’s paltry salary cap.
The Galaxy (0-10-3) haven’t won since but Delgado has thrived. Not only did LAFC (6-4-3) give him a multiyear contract with a raise from the $876,250 he made last season, but he’s tied for the team lead with three assists and is one of just three players to appear in all 13 MLS games for a team that hasn’t lost a league game in six weeks and is fifth in the Western Conference table.
And he’s done that despite playing under a coach not named Greg Vanney for just the second time in 11 seasons.
Galaxy coach Greg Vanney celebrates after a win over Seattle in the Western Conference final on Nov. 30. The defending MLS Cup champion Galaxy is winless through its first 13 games of the season.
(Etienne Laurent / Associated Press)
“Coming to a new team, a different view of things, may take a little time,” said Delgado, who played under Vanney in Toronto and with the Galaxy after breaking in as a teenager with Chivas USA, where Vanney was an assistant coach. “I’m a guy who can take in information and change on the fly as well. I think my ability to do things passing and how I see the field, [my] work rate covering ground, helps.”
His leadership and experience is also important. Although he just turned 30 on May 9, Delgado is in his 14th MLS season and his 340 appearances, including playoffs, ranks ninth among active players, according to Transfermarkt. No other LAFC player is close.
He’s also the only man to have played for all three of Southern California’s MLS teams, Chivas USA, the Galaxy and LAFC. Yet none of that, he said, has prepared him for changing sides in El Tráfico.
“It is definitely a different look,” he said. “But at the end of the day it’s a Derby. Once that whistle blows and we’re on the field, I’m locked in.”
The crosstown rivalry has grown into the most passionate in MLS but most of that bad blood is felt in the stands. On the field, Delgado said, the feeling is more one of mutual admiration regardless of the colors you’re wearing.
“I don’t know what goes on between the two fans bases, but I know as players there’s a level of respect. Everyone has their own journey of getting here. Everyone has their own battles,” he said.
And his fight Sunday will be for LAFC. So while he feels for his former teammates, he’d like nothing better than to see them suffer for at least one more week.
“I have an emotional attachment with the club over there. But I’m over here, right?” he said. “I have duties over here and I’m working on doing my part and finding success for this club.”
