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.
LAFC plays at Austin on Sunday for a chance to advance to the Western Conference semifinals.
LAFC took a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute on Brendan Hines-Ike’s own goal. Ryan Hollingshead beat his defender in the box for a cross in front of goal that was deflected in by Hines-Ike.
Jon Gallagher tied it at 1-all in the 63rd for Austin. A loose ball in front of net fell to the feet of Myrto Uzuni, who poked it to Owen Wolff for a feed to a wide-open Gallagher at the back post.
Son Heung-Min started the game-winning sequence with a long run to get into the area and draw defenders for a pass to Denis Bouanga, whose shot took a deflection to Ordaz at the back post.
Austin won the two regular-season meetings with LAFC this year by a 1-0 scoreline — both goals coming on headers off corner kicks.
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.
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.
After Dreyer got the tiebreaking goal in the 66th minute, Western Conference-leading San Diego held on against a barrage of LAFC chances to extend its unbeaten streak to six matches in MLS play.
Denis Bouanga scored in the first half for LAFC, but the French star and Son both failed to convert golden scoring chances in the final minutes of expansion San Diego’s first trip 120 miles north to BMO Stadium. CJ Dos Santos made three saves for the visitors, including a diving stop on Son in second-half injury time.
Son was given a hero’s welcome in his first match in Los Angeles, taking the field nearly four weeks after LAFC announced the landmark signing of the South Korean star following his decade at Tottenham. Son played his first three matches on the road for LAFC, scoring a goal and immediately energizing the offense while his new club went unbeaten.
The sellout crowd serenaded Son from the moment he stepped on the field for warmups in Los Angeles, which has the world’s largest Korean population outside Korea. With thousands of fans wearing his jerseys for club and country, Son repeatedly waved to those cheering him on, and he exhorted the crowd into a frenzy right before kickoff.
Bouanga put LAFC ahead in the 15th minute with a beautiful chip volley into San Diego’s net off an excellent pass from teenager David Martínez. Bouanga’s goal was his 15th of the season, all in his last 19 matches.
But Lozano answered in the 33rd minute with a strike from the middle of the box for his ninth MLS goal. The Mexican national team star celebrated by taunting the famously raucous North End supporters’ section.
Dreyer put San Diego ahead with an individual effort by the Danish star, slipping behind LAFC’s back line to collect Jeppe Tverskov’s pass and juking two defenders before firing a left-footed shot for his 14th goal.
LAFC controlled play for long stretches, but couldn’t even it.
Son hit a screamer toward the far top corner in the 45th minute, but Dos Santos made a superb leaping save.
Hugo Lloris’ long pass put Son in a one-on-one break in the 74th minute, but he couldn’t get a shot off.
Son then hit the post in the 78th minute with a shot from the top of the box.
Bouanga got alone on the keeper in the 82nd minute, but waited too long to take a shot.
Son’s hard shot in the 92nd minute was saved by a diving Dos Santos.
Already the home of Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles is now also the home of South Korea’s Shohei Ohtani.
Like Ohtani, Son Heung-min has been the most popular athlete in his home country by a wide margin for close to a decade. Like Ohtani, Son has a pleasant disposition that has endeared him to people from a wide range of backgrounds.
Son was introduced as the latest addition to LAFC at a news conference on Wednesday at BMO Stadium, and he was everything he was made out to be.
He came across as sincere.
He was warm.
He was funny.
“I’m here to win,” Son said. “I will perform and definitely show you some exciting …
“Are we calling it football or soccer?”
None of this means Son will turn LAFC into the Dodgers overnight, of course. By this point, Major League Soccer and its teams understand that profile players aren’t transformative figures as much as they are building blocks. Son will be the newest, and perhaps most solid, block that will be stacked on the foundation established by the club’s first designated player, the now-retired Carlos Vela.
Outside of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, there might not be a player in the world who could be of a greater value than Son to LAFC, which continues to fight for relevance on multiple fronts. There was a reason the transfer fee paid by LAFC to Tottenham Hotspur of England was the highest in MLS history, a reported $26 million.
“Son’s arrival marks a new chapter, not just for LAFC but for the league and for football in the United States,” general manager John Thorrington said. “He brings not only incredible quality on the field but a magnetic presence off it, someone who inspires millions around the world and now will do so here in Los Angeles.”
The most talented Mexican player of his generation, Vela forged an immediate connection with the community, carving out a place for LAFC in the congested Los Angeles sports market. Son will do the same, as this city is home to a large Korean community.
Supporters of Mexico’s national soccer team also share a fondness of Son because of a late goal he scored against Germany in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup, which enabled El Tri to advance to the round of 16.
More than ethnic background, Vela’s success with LAFC was driven by performance. Son is expected to deliver on that front as well. Son might be 33, but he remains a world-class attacker. He should be one of MLS’ best players from the moment he steps on the field, if not the best after Messi of Inter Miami.
“We can say I’m old, but I still have good physicality, good legs and still I have good quality,” Son said.
South Korean national team Son Heung-min poses for a photo with his new LAFC jersey.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
LAFC has become a model franchise in MLS not just because of how it markets itself. The club makes smart soccer decisions and Son is the latest.
What will distinguish Son from Vela is the opportunity he will present LAFC to build its global brand.
“From the early days of building this club, we’ve dreamt of building a club that would win trophies and make a major positive impact in our community and Los Angeles, but also make a mark on the world stage of global football,” lead managing owner Bennett Rosenthal said.
As much success as it has enjoyed domestically, as much attention as it received for participating in the recent Club World Cup, LAFC doesn’t have as much international name recognition as Inter Miami, which employs Messi; or the Galaxy, for which David Beckham played; or even the New York Cosmos, which made its name by signing Pele in the 1970s.
Son played 10 seasons with Tottenham, and by one estimate, the club had 12 million supporters in South Korea — or about one in four people in the country. Koreans traveled to London to watch Son play for Tottenham, just as many Japanese people travel to watch Ohtani at Dodger Stadium. Korean companies sponsored the Spurs.
The eyes of South Korea have shifted to LAFC. The team scheduled Son’s introductory news conference for 2 p.m. local time — or 6 a.m. in South Korea. An estimated 40 Korean journalists were issued credentials to cover the event.
Son acknowledged that as he prepared for life after Tottenham, LAFC was “not my first choice.” A conversation with Thorrington after the season changed his mind.
“He showed me the destination where I should be,” Son said.
Son attended LAFC’s Leagues Cup victory over Tigres of Mexico on Tuesday night and received a loud ovation when he was shown on the video scoreboard.
“It was just insane,” he said. “I just wanted to run into the pitch.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass presents new LAFC star Son Heung-min with a certificate of recognition during an introductory news conference on Wednesday.
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Son will be reunited with goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, his former teammate at Tottenham.
“He’s back to [being] my captain,” Son said. “So I have to say something good about him because otherwise in the locker room, he’s just going to kill me.”
Son laughed.
His personality will play in Los Angeles, just as it did in London. He will make LAFC a known commodity in South Korea, perhaps beyond. He will further enhance a structure that was built by Vela, ensuring the team’s next star will have an even greater platform on which to perform. He won’t be as prominent locally as Ohtani or Luka Doncic, but he doesn’t have to be.
LAFC’s signing of South Korean national team captain Son Heung-min appears to be one of those rare acquisitions that checks every box and helps everybody. Not only is it one of the most significant signings in MLS history, but it instantly makes LAFC better while boosting the World Cup hopes of the Korean national team and the profile of Korean soccer in the U.S.
But in few places will the influence of the signing, which is expected to be completed Tuesday, be felt more directly than in Southern California’s Korean community, the largest in the U.S.
“The Korean community has been buzzing ever since rumors of Son Heung-min’s potential move to LAFC began to spread,” said Kyeongjun Kim, a writer with the Korean Daily, the largest Korean-language media outlet in the U.S. “The fact that a player of his caliber is coming to L.A. is monumental event.
“Son’s move to the LAFC is as exciting — if not more so — than when Chan Ho Park and Hyun-Jin Ryu joined the Dodgers.”
Luring Son, 33, away from Tottenham of the English Premier League, where he spent the past 10 seasons, came at a high price. Although financial details of the signing were not announced, a league official with knowledge of the negotiations but not authorized to speak publicly said the transfer fee easily topped the MLS-record $22 million the Atlanta United paid to Middlesbrough in February for the rights to striker Emmanuel Latte Lath.
ESPN, citing unnamed sources, put the price at $26 million, more than LAFC’s total payroll of nearly $22.4 million, which is sixth highest in the league. Yet, strangely, that could still prove to be something of a bargain and represents another signing coup for general manager John Thorrington who, over the past four seasons, has signed Hugo Lloris and Olivier Giroud, players with the most appearances and goals for the French national team, respectively; Giorgio Chiellini and Gareth Bale, captains of the Italian and Welsh national teams, respectively; and Denis Bouanga, who led the MLS in goals in the past two full seasons.
Thorrington didn’t have to break the bank to do any of it.
LAFC earned $10 million from its participation in this summer’s Club World Cup, money it then invested in Son. And despite the massive transfer fee, the team could actually profit financially from the deal since it has long believed a Korean star playing in Los Angeles would more than pay for itself in marketing and sponsorship deals, much the same way the Dodgers have profited off Japan’s Shohei Ohtani.
Kim said that’s a very good bet.
“The passion and influence of Korean and Korean American soccer fans should never be underestimated,” he said, noting that major European clubs with Korean players have begun posting online content in Korean.
“Korean broadcasters,” he predicted, “may seek to acquire broadcasting rights and new business opportunities could emerge. Son’s arrival at LAFC will benefit not only the club but also the league as a whole.”
The influence won’t be limited to the Korean community, however. Son, who was one of the most popular players in the Premier League, speaks English well and has a positive and humble personality, which will make him easy to market across ethnic boundaries.
LAFC tried this once before, signing defender Kim Moon-hwan to much fanfare in 2021. But Kim, who had played his whole life in Korea, never really adapted to Los Angeles and returned home after 13 months, having played in just 28 games in MLS. Homesickness won’t be a problem for Son, who dropped out of high school to join an academy team in Hamburg, Germany, at 16.
Son will become the ninth Korean to play in MLS and the fourth to play this season. That’s a small number for a country that has played in 10 straight World Cups — something the U.S., Italy, the Netherlands and France haven’t done. If he is successful, it could open the way for more Koreans to play in MLS.
“Many in Korea believe Son raised the profile of Korean soccer through his efforts in Europe,” Kim said. “Son’s transfer presents a rare opportunity to boost the visibility of MLS, which has traditionally drawn less attention from Korean fans.”
Then there’s the on-field impact. Son scored more than 120 goals for Tottenham, reaching double digits in goals in eight of his past nine seasons at Tottenham and sharing the EPL Golden Boot with Liverpool’s Mo Salah four years ago. No Asian player had ever done that before, so his addition could go a long way toward reviving a slumbering LAFC offense that has scored more than one goal from the run of play just twice in its last 10 games in all competition heading into Tuesday’s Leagues Cup match with Tigres.
As for the South Korean national team and Son, its captain, the timing of the move to MLS couldn’t be better. The Koreans have already qualified for next summer’s World Cup, which is returning to North America for the first time since 1994, and playing in the U.S. will help Son, a three-time World Cup performer who is second in national team history in goals and third in appearances, adjust to the time, the weather and the travel, all things players complained about during the Club World Cup.
“When Son announced his departure from Tottenham, he mentioned that the 2026 World Cup might be his last,” Kim said. “As the captain, this is a pivotal time for him. I believe he will do everything he can to prepare thoroughly and being at LAFC will help him adapt to the local environment.”
It’s hard to imagine a signing with the potential to be so positive in so many ways. For LAFC and MLS, it looks to be well worth the price.
Son revealed his decision during an emotional press conferenceCredit: AP
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The forward was sat next to boss Thomas Frank at the presserCredit: AP
“So I just want to share this information before we start the press conference.”
On how he came to the decision, Son added: “It was the most difficult decision of my football career.
Son Heung-min announces he is LEAVING Tottenham after ten years in emotional press conference
“I’ve been here ten years at a beautiful club with beautiful fans and having such amazing memories.
“And after all that, it was so hard to make this decision. But as I said, I feel like I need a new environment and to push myself.
“And to get more of me, I feel like I need a little bit of change. Ten years is a lot of time when you’re thinking about it.
He added: “I came to London as a kid. 23-years-old, a very young age, [and] a young boy came to London who even didn’t speak English.
“And [I’m] leaving this club as a grown man. This is a very, very proud moment.
“So I just wanna say thank you to all of the Spurs fans that gave me so much love.
“I felt like it was my home. But yeah, it was, it was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made.”
A MODERN DAY LEGEND
Son signed for Tottenham from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015 aged 23 in a deal worth around £22million.
The popular forward went on to score 173 goals in 454 appearances for the North Londoners, placing him fourth on the club’s all-time list of goalscorers.
Son was appointed club captain by former boss Ange Postecoglou in 2023.
The Tottenham legend went on to lift the Europa League trophy in May, as the club ended its 17-year drought.
On the timing of his White Hart Lane exit, Son said: “The goodbye is always also in a good timing. But I think it’s the right time to make this decision.
“I hope that everybody understands my decision and I hope that everybody respects that.”
Son has been strongly linked with a move to MLS side LAFC.
The switch would see him reunite with his predecessor as Spurs captain Hugo Lloris.
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Son lifted the Europa League in Bilbao back in MayCredit: PA
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Son could reunite with Hugo Lloris at LAFCCredit: The Sun
