Son Heung-min continued his strong form with a goal in his second consecutive game as Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) defeated Real Salt Lake 3-1 on Wednesday night at BMO Stadium. Denis Bouanga also scored, while goalkeeper Hugo Lloris recorded six saves, securing his ninth shutout of the Major League Soccer (MLS) season and helping LAFC improve to a 9-5-3 record.
Son, the 34-year-old South Korean forward, opened the scoring in the 11th minute. He skillfully created space by pushing the ball to his left before firing a powerful shot into the near post from just outside the penalty arc. Later in the first half, Bouanga extended the lead in the 40th minute after receiving a well-placed pass from Mathieu Choiniere. The striker maneuvered around a defender inside the box before slotting the ball into the net. DeAndre Yedlin contributed an own goal in the 68th minute to finalize the scoring. For Real Salt Lake (8-5-2), defender Lukas Engel scored his first career goal in the 86th minute. Rafael Cabral made one save during the match.
In a separate Western Conference clash at Dignity Health Sports Park, St. Louis City SC secured a 3-1 win over the Galaxy, fueled by two late first-half goals. Lukas MacNaughton and Marcel Hartel scored four minutes apart to break the deadlock before halftime. Simon Becher added a second-half tally following the Galaxy’s loss of defender Emiro Garcés to a red card in the 49th minute for his second yellow.
St. Louis extended its unbeaten run to six matches and climbed into the playoff positions, leapfrogging the Galaxy. JT Marcinkowski, the Galaxy goalkeeper, made eight saves but was unable to prevent St. Louis from controlling the match. The Galaxy, now struggling after selling star forward Gabriel Pec to Cruzeiro during the World Cup break for a reported club-record fee of at least $12 million, suffered their second home loss in a row by a combined 6-1 margin. Pec had been a key player for the Galaxy, tallying 43 goals and 28 assists in 101 appearances.
Troy Elgersma scored his first MLS goal for the Galaxy in the 86th minute, providing a late consolation. The contest also featured some physical play, with Galaxy captain Marco Reus and Emiro Garcés receiving yellow cards after an on-field altercation late in the first half. Reus was visibly affected after an early collision left him down on the pitch during stoppage time.