Wednesday, Sept. 17 | 6:30 p.m. PT
🏟 | America First Field - Sandy, UT
📻 | 710 AM ESPN, ESPN LA App, KFWB 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish), and KYPA 1230 AM (Korean)
🗓 | Calendar sync
A late-summer schedule laden with road matches carries LAFC to Sandy, Utah, on Wednesday night for a pivotal matchup against conference rivals Real Salt Lake, with both clubs’ playoff outlook hanging in the balance.
Currently in fifth place in the Western Conference (12W-7L-8D, 44 pts.), LAFC holds at least one game in hand on each of the top four teams. At season’s end, the West’s top four will be rewarded with home-field advantage in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs, which begin in just five weeks.
A win in Utah would push LAFC into sole possession of fourth place, with six games remaining on its schedule.
Wednesday’s match in Utah was originally scheduled for May but was pushed back because of LAFC’s appearance in the FIFA Club World Cup Play-In match on May 31, which saw the Black & Gold defeat Liga MX heavyweights Club América to earn a spot in the globe’s premier club football competition. LAFC will face RSL again this weekend at BMO Stadium, on Sunday, Sept. 21.
SONNY CAN SHARE
New arrival Son Heung-Min found the net just 53 seconds into LAFC’s 4-2 win in San Jose last Saturday before fellow DP forward Denis Bouanga joined him at center stage with a hat trick. Bouanga’s three goals against the Quakes placed him in a two-man tie with his former teammate, club legend Carlos Vela, for first place on LAFC’s all-time scoring list, with 93 goals across all competitions.
Bouanga’s hat trick (his fifth in an LAFC shirt since he joined the club in summer 2022) also moved him into third place in this year’s MLS Golden Boot race, behind Nashville’s Sam Surridge (21 goals) and Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi (20). If Bouanga can score two more goals in LAFC’s final seven matches, he would become the first player in MLS history to record three straight 20-goal seasons.
Son’s goal, meanwhile, was his second for LAFC since he joined the Black & Gold from England’s Tottenham Hotspur in early August, and his third goal contribution.
In 379 minutes over five appearances (four starts), the captain of South Korea’s World-Cup-bound national team has recorded one assist and nine shots on target for LAFC. Son’s 14 key passes are the most on the team during that span.
Right back Sergi Palencia assisted on two of Bouanga’s goals against San Jose. Palencia’s four assists this season rank fourth on the team behind Mark Delgado (8), Bouanga (7), and Nathan Ordaz (5). This week Palencia signed a contract extension that will keep him in black and gold through 2028.
ASSESSING RSL
Currently in 10th place in the Western Conference (10W-14L-4D, 34 pts.), head coach Pablo Mastroeni’s side stands just one point behind San Jose for the West’s all-important ninth-place spot. The West’s top nine teams at season’s end advance to the postseason, with the eighth- and ninth-place teams meeting in a single-elimination Wild Card match whose winner moves on to face the No. 1 seed in a Round One Best-of-3 Series.
Real Salt Lake has scored the fewest goals in the West this year (30) but has made up for it with disciplined defending and overall grit. The Claret & Cobalt has conceded just 37 goals in MLS play in 2025. Only four teams in the conference have allowed fewer— one of which is LAFC (35 goals).
U.S. Mens National Team star Diego Luna scored the opener in RSL’s 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City last weekend, which snapped RSL’s three-game losing skid in league play. Luna leads his team in goals (nine) and assists (five). The northern California native joined Bouanga on the 2025 MLS All-Star roster earlier this summer.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
LAFC is midway through an eight-game string that includes six road games. So far LAFC has gone 2W-0L-2D away from BMO Stadium since that string began August 9 in Chicago, which also marked Son’s LAFC and MLS debut.
The Black & Gold is now 4W-3L-6D on the road in MLS play in 2025 and is unbeaten in its last eight MLS road matches (3W-0L-5D). LAFC’s last league loss away from BMO Stadium came on April 5 in Houston.
LAFC has earned at least a point from 10 of its 13 road games this year (.769). Only Minnesota United (.867) and FC Dallas (.786) have higher percentages among Western Conference clubs.
LAFC CAN WIN IF
Its high press and the presence of Son and Bouanga ask questions that Mastroeni’s men cannot answer. Against the Earthquakes those factors proved too much, too early, resulting in a 3-0 lead just 12 minutes in. Real Salt Lake presents a sturdier defensive structure, however, and the Black & Gold would be well-served by line-breaking passes and third-man runs from its midfield rotation of Mark Delgado, Timmy Tillman, Mathieu Choinière, and 21-year-old newcomer Andy Moran.
RSL CAN WIN IF
Luna does Luna things. The 22-year-old attacking midfielder has earned his spot in USMNT manager Mauricio Pocchetino’s World Cup plans by behaving with the ball at his feet in ways that most young attackers cannot. With 14 goal contributions for RSL (no other player has more than six) Luna has become a bit of a one-man show for his club due to fellow midfielder Pablo Ruiz’s injury issues. Still, LAFC should remain aware of an ascending star who can change a game by himself.
