LOS ANGELES — Playing to a scoreless draw in March, the Los Angeles Football Club and Austin FC made it three consecutive halves without a goal between them Wednesday at BMO Stadium.
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Then the dam burst.
A pair of goals from Denis Bouanga plus Son Heung-min’s seventh score of the regular season sealed a 3-1 victory for LAFC’s inaugural three-point effort under interim head coach Xavi Tamarit.
Son assisted on each of Bouanga’s goals, giving the South Korean 15 in MLS this year. The French forward pushed his 2026 goal tally to 17, three shy of extending his MLS record with a fourth consecutive season of 20 or more.
Through the opening 45 minutes, LAFC seemed to stifle itself.
For the second match in a row, Tamarit started Bouanga as a center forward, with Son playing underneath him in a 4-2-3-1 formation. And for the second match in a row, the LAFC stars barely connected with one another.
Making his first start for LAFC, Finnish attacker Leo Walta brought some life to the Black & Gold attack with his quality delivery and eye for goal, but the match headed to the break all square as 13th-place Austin was content to let their hosts kick the ball around.
Coming out of the locker room for the second half, Bouanga moved back to his favored left wing position and immediately LAFC (12-9-9, 45 points) looked much better off.
Pressing deep in the Austin end, center back Ryan Porteous headed a weak clearance to Mark Delgado, who put the ball into space for Son to run onto in the box. Dancing in front of Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver, Son looked up and found Bouanga wide open inside the six-yard box.
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Austin (7-12-10, 31 points) briefly found a way back into the game in the 66th minute when a nonchalant giveaway by center back Aaron Long set up Brandon Vazquez’s third goal of the season off Myrto Uzuni’s sixth assist.
A minute later, Bouanga capitalized when Stuver drilled Son with the ball as he attempted to kick the ball out of the Austin end. The ball dropped in front of Bouanga, who scored inside the near post.
Son then made it 3-1 in the 72nd minute.
Jacob Shaffelburg, who replaced Armindo Sieb in the 63rd minute, was a terror for the half hour he played. That included the Canadian winger connecting on his fifth assist of the season with a well-struck cross that allowed Son to beat Stuver.
LAFC players sprinted down the field looking for more goals and nearly found them several times, filling the announced crowd of 22,180 with delight on Hello Kitty Night.
The result, LAFC’s first victory in five games and second in 12 games since the start of August, leaves them in sixth place in the Western Conference, four points above Seattle, whom they visit on Decision Day.
The Black & Gold depart Thursday for a match Saturday at Citi Field against New York City before returning home for their last two home matches of the regular season. The Galaxy come Oct. 25 for the second El Trafico of the year, followed by Minnesota United on Nov. 1.
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More to come on this story.