The Los Angeles Football can keep feasting on opponents below the playoff line Saturday in St. Louis.
Demolishing San Jose and Real Salt Lake twice in nine days by a combined score of 12-4 to reach 50 points and clinch an MLS Cup playoff berth for the seventh time in eight seasons, LAFC intends for that momentum to extend well beyond Decision Day.
With a handful of regular season-games left, the next three chances for LAFC to run wild – at a struggling St. Louis City (13th in the West with 28 points) followed by home games against the already-eliminated Eastern sides Atlanta United and Toronto FC – carry expectations for full points and eye-popping goals.
At this point, accolades regarding the partnership between Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min are bordering on redundant, so prolific have their performances been together.
The pair abused recent opponents, helping LAFC become the first team in MLS history to produce hat tricks in three consecutive games. Relatedly, this is the first time LAFC scored four goals in three consecutive matches. Also, Bouanga and Son had all 12. Oh, and Bouanga is now the only MLS player to complete back-to-back-to-back 20-goal regular seasons, dropping nine finishes (eight in his last four games, a career best) since Son’s arrival en route to being LAFC’s all-time leading goal scorer. With 22 goals, Bouanga is two behind Lionel Messi for the league lead in 2025.
All the while, the supporting cast stepped up its play as LAFC rose into the top four teams in the conference.
For the midfield, which added useful pieces including Mathieu Choinière and Andy Moran in the transfer window, Son’s connection with Bouanga “just makes our job a lot easier knowing that you have quality up top,” said 14-year veteran Mark Delgado, who has a team- and career-high nine assists this year.
“You can just create fluidity in the midfield knowing Sonny is going to be there and Denis is being a threat behind but also connecting with Sonny.”
That was evident on Bouanga’s second goal versus RSL last weekend. An in-back-through sequence from Nkosi Tafari to Son to Moran set up the young Irishman to deliver a picture-perfect through ball for his first MLS assist in three appearances.
Moran could be in line for more time this weekend with the versatile Timothy Tillman, who appeared in the attack or the middle of the park in six of LAFC’s last seven games, suspended for yellow-card accumulation.
Forward Nathan Ordaz hasn’t seen the field after returning from international duty for El Salvador with an injury, and is out, too.
In the meantime, Alex Băluță, the free-agent Romanian winger, had joined the team. He adds another option in the final third, especially when LAFC is tasked with breaking down compact opponents.
On the defensive side, the team appears cohesive. The combination of Scottish center back Ryan Porteous paired with Tafari and/or Eddie Segura as a No. 6 or third defender has tamped down concerns about the team’s strength at the back in the wake of Aaron Long’s season-ending injury.
LAFC is 4-0-2 away from BMO Stadium since Long went down in mid-July, extending their unbeaten streak on the road to 10. Avoiding a loss would put LAFC alone in second for the most consecutive away games without a defeat during the MLS regular season, needing one more to tie 2010 FC Dallas with 12 straight.
If the hurdle isn’t high enough for the hosts, St. Louis (7-17-7) is winless in five all-time meetings with LAFC. They drew 2-2 at BMO Stadium in April before St. Louis replaced head coach Olof Mellberg with David Critchley, who was promoted to interim head coach from the second team on May 29.
Critchley’s group must defeat LAFC (14-7-8) to have any hope of avoiding elimination this weekend, pending the results of four other matches.
An LAFC win would be Steve Cherundolo’s 100th as head coach of the club.
LAFC AT ST. LOUIS CITY
When: 5:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Energizer Park, St. Louis. Mo.
TV/Radio: Apple TV+ (MLS Season Pass )/710 AM, 980 AM, 1230 AM