A trio of first-half goals helped LAFC post its fourth consecutive victory, beating Sporting Kansas City 4-0 on Saturday night at BMO Stadium. Son Heung-Min, Denis Bouanga, and David MartÃnez each scored in the opening 45 minutes before Bouanga added the team’s fourth in the 85th minute to seal the victory for the Black & Gold.Â
With the win, LAFC is now 10W-5L-3D on the season for 33 points, leaving the club tied on points with the Vancouver Whitecaps and San Jose Earthquakes for first place in the Western Conference. In three games since returning from the FIFA World Cup break last week, LAFC is 3-0-0, scoring 10 goals and conceding just one.
For the second straight game, the home side took an early 1-0 lead courtesy of a Son goal, with the Korean international putting LAFC in front in the 5th minute. Sporting Kansas City midfielder Zorhan Bassong intercepted a Timothy Tillman pass near midfield but played it back toward his goal, directly into the path of Son, who shrugged off the challenge of an SKC defender before slotting a low shot into the net.
Bouanga doubled the LAFC lead in the 37th minute with a quick-strike counterattack. Aaron Long won the ball on the edge of the LAFC penalty area, heading it to the feet of Mathieu Choinière. The Canadian international took one touch before hitting a long ball forward for Bouanga, who raced past a pair of defenders before beating SKC goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland with a right-footed shot to make the score 2-0.
LAFC extended its lead in stoppage time with Bouanga turning provider and setting up David MartÃnez for LAFC’s third goal of the half. Long again started the attack, winning a ball deep in his own defensive third before finding Bouanga on the left. His long, crossfield pass found the run of MartÃnez on the right. The Venezuelan expertly took the ball down and raced toward goal, cutting inside onto his left foot, past an SKC defender before placing a shot past Cleveland to give the home side a 3-0 halftime advantage.
The score would stay that way until the 85th minute when Bouanga added his second of the game and 10th of the season, finishing a Tyler Boyd cross with a powerful and perfectly placed first-time shot from just inside the area.
The Black & Gold will be back in action on Saturday, August 1, when the club travels north to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place. That match is scheduled to kick 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 10W-5L-3D for 33 points this season and 15-6-5 in all competitions.
- LAFC has won four straight games dating back to a 1-0 win over Seattle on May 24, matching its longest winning streak of the season. The club also won its first four games of the regular season between February 21 and March 14.
- At home this year, LAFC is 10-2-2 in all competitions, including 7-2-1 in MLS play.
- LAFC is now unbeaten in its last 10 games against Sporting Kansas City, dating back to the 2021 season, going 8-0-2 in that time and outscoring its opponent 24-4 in those games, keeping six clean sheets and scoring three goals or more five times.
- All-time, LAFC is 11-4-2 against Sporting.
- LAFC is a perfect 10-0-0 in the league and 14-0-0 in all competitions when scoring first. The Black & Gold is one of four clubs not to lose or tie a league game when scoring first this season.
- Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-Min have now both scored in all three games that LAFC has played since returning from the FIFA World Cup break last week. The pair has combined for seven goals and two assists in those three matches.
- Last season, between September 13 and October 5, the pair each scored in four straight games, combining for 15 goals in those four victories.
- With two goals tonight, Bouanga has 10 goals on the season and 75 for his MLS career. He is the 39th player in MLS history with 75 regular-season goals and just one of four active players in the league to achieve the feat.
- This was the 16th time that Bouanga has scored multiple goals in a regular-season game. He also had an assist, giving him multiple goals and an assist for the sixth time in 118 all-time regular season games.
- With his first half goal tonight, Son now has 12 goals and 13 assists in his 26 MLS regular-season games since joining LAFC last summer.
- David MartÃnez's goal was his 10th in all competitions this year. He scored 11 goals combined in the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
- Hugo Lloris made one save for his MLS-best 10th shutout in 15 appearances this season.
- Since joining LAFC ahead of the 2024 season, Lloris has 33 shutouts in 80 regular-season games. He has reached double-digit clean sheets in each of his three seasons in MLS.
- Mathieu Choinière tallied his second assist in as many games and fourth of the season. He is now one shy of matching his career-high of five, which he set in 2023 with CF Montreal.
- LAFC’s starting centerback pairing of Aaron Long and Ryan Porteous had combined five assists in 234 all-time regular season matches coming into tonight’s game. They had three assists between them tonight.
- The assist for Porteous, which came on Bouanga’s 85th minute goal, was the first goal involvement of his MLS career, coming in his 26th game with the Black & Gold.
