Recap | LAFC 3-1 Austin FC | 2026 MLS Season

LAFC Communications

LAFC took all three points with a convincing 3-1 win over Austin FC on Hello Kitty Night at BMO Stadium. Denis Bouanga had two goals and an assist while Son Heung-Min had a goal and two assists to help the Black & Gold snap a four-game winless streak and move within two points of fourth place in the Western Conference.

With the win, LAFC is now 12W-9L-9D on the season for 45 points. The club remains in sixth place but is now one point behind Houston in fifth and two points behind San Jose for fourth, with the top four teams in each conference holding home-field advantage in Round One of the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Playing in front of a capacity crowd at BMO Stadium for the second time in the last four days, LAFC came out the more aggressive of the two teams, outshooting Austin 13-5 in the opening 45 minutes, though the game remained scoreless.

That would change less than 10 minutes into the second half when Bouanga scored his first of the game. Mark Delgado picked the ball up on the right wing and played a pass in behind the Austin defense for Son who managed to split a pair of defenders at the corner of the six-yard box before finding Bouanga alone in front of goal to make the score 1-0 in the 52nd minute.

Brandon Vazquez equalized for the visitors, finishing low past Hugo Lloris off a feed from Myrto Uzuni, in the 66th minute. However, just a minute later, LAFC was back in front thanks to Bouanga. An attempted clearance by Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver struck Son inside the box and deflected right to Bouanga who took one touch before rolling a right-footed shot past Stuver at the near post for his 17th goal of the season, giving LAFC a 2-1 lead.

After being credited with an assist on each of LAFC’s first two goals, Son scored his team’s third five minutes later to seal a win for the home side. Bouanga won a header near midfield, flicking it into the path of Jacob Shaffelburg on the left wing. The Canadian international hit an early, curling cross into the box, between a pair of defenders for Son whose first-time shot ended up in the net, making the score 3-1.

LAFC finished the game with a 28-13 advantage in shots, including a 13-4 edge in shots on target, forcing Stuver to make 10 saves while also hitting the crossbar on either side of halftime.

The Black & Gold will be back in action on Saturday, October 17, when the club heads east for the final time this season to take on New York City FC at Citi Field. That game kicks off at 4:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on Apple TV, as well as Coupang Play and SPOTV for fans in Korea. Local radio coverage will be available on 710 AM ESPN, the ESPN LA app, KYPA 1230 AM (Korean), and 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish).

NOTES

With the win, LAFC is now 12-9-9 for 45 points this season and 18-10-13 in all competitions.

At home this season, LAFC is 9-3-3 in the league and 13-3-6 in all competitions.

LAFC interim head coach Xavi Tamarit collected his first win in charge of the club and is now 1-0-1 since being named interim head coach.

LAFC is now 17-0-4 in all competitions when scoring first this year, including 12-0-3 in the league.

In 13 regular-season meetings with Austin FC, LAFC has scored 20 goals with 16 of those coming in the second half, including all three tonight.

Austin FC had shutout LAFC in each of the last three regular-season meetings between the two sides dating back to the start of the 2025 season.

Denis Bouanga now has a team-best 17 goals on the season and has 125 in all competitions since joining LAFC.

This was his fourth multi-goal game of the year in all competitions, and third in the league. Bouanga now has 17 regular-season multi-goal games for LAFC, which are the fourth most among active players in MLS and the most in club history.

With his two goals tonight, Bouanga now has 82 regular-season goals since making his MLS debut in 2022. He is now tied for 25th in league history in goals scored.

Bouanga now has seven goals in his last eight games and has either scored or assisted on nine of the 12 goals that LAFC has scored since the club returned from Leagues Cup in mid-August.

Prior to tonight, Bouanga had not scored in four consecutive regular-season games against Austin FC. He has now scored a goal in three of the seven games that he has played against the club, scoring multiple goals in each of those three games.

Son Heung-Min collected two assists in the game, giving him 15 on the season. He now leads MLS in assists and is tied with Carlos Vela for the most assists in a single season for LAFC. Vela had 15 assists to go along with 34 goals in 2019 en route to being named MLS MVP.

In addition to his 15 regular-season assists, Son also had seven in the Concacaf Champions Cup (which led that competition), giving him 22 in all competitions this year.

With a goal and two assists tonight, Son recorded three goal contributions in a single regular-season game for the fourth time in his LAFC career, and his first since setting a club record with four assists in a win over Orlando City on April 4.

In the regular season, Son has assisted on nine of Bouanga’s 17 goals this season while Bouanga has assisted on three of Son’s goals.

Jacob Shaffelburg was credited with an assist on Son’s 72nd minute goal, giving him five on the season, setting a new regular-season career-high. His previous career-high was four, which he set in 2024 while with Nashville SC.

Mark Delgado moved into a tie for 20th place in MLS history in games played, appearing in the 371st regular-season game of his career. He signed with LAFC ahead of the 2025 season and has appeared in 62 of the 64 games that the club has played in that time.

Xavi Tamarit made four changes to the team that drew 1-1 with Vancouver on Saturday night with captain Aaron Long returning to the starting lineup alongside Mark Delgado, Igor Jesus, and Leo Walta, who was making his first start for the club after signing on loan from Swansea City on August 31.