LOS ANGELES — Missing Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-min in the lineup on Wednesday night, someone else had to score for LAFC to win a sixth straight game.
After tallying an MLS record 18 consecutive goals over the previous seven games, Bouanga and Son, who joined their respective national teams during the FIFA international window, left the task of climbing up the Western Conference to their teammates.
It turns out, there was nothing to worry about against Toronto FC.
Jeremy Ebobisse and Frankie Amaya sealed a simple 2-0 victory that moved LAFC (17-7-8, 59 points) past Minnesota United into third place in the Western Conference, within one point of San Diego (18-9-6) and Vancouver (17-6-9) for the top spot.
Thirteen minutes into the club’s final home game of the regular season – LAFC finished with an 11-4-2 home record in MLS competition – Ebobisse answered the call first.
Mishandling the ball at midfield, Toronto midfielder Alonso Coello saw Ebobisse pounce on the mistake and hustle down the pitch doing his best Bouanga impersonation. Inside the box, the 28-year-old strike pounded his shot at the far post, beyond the reach of goalkeeper Sean Johnson.
The forward’s fourth league goal of the year put the Black & Gold in front for good against anemic Toronto (5-14-14, 29 points), which entered the contest with a league-record eight straight draws despite the second-fewest goals (33) in the league.
In the 69th minute, Amaya, a second half substitute for David Martínez, connected on his initial goal with LAFC, beating Johnson inside the near post.
Martínez was in line to score as well, but a penalty kick attempt 10 minutes before he departed was denied by Johnson for one of his five saves.
As the rest of MLS sat and watched the makeup game – the originally scheduled contest on June 13 was postponed when LAFC qualified for the Club World Cup – Coach Steve Cherundolo’s group produced its 62nd and 63rd goals of the season.
While all the headlines the past few weeks have belonged to the Bouanga-Son duo, LAFC continued to play stingy defense, pushing its streak without conceding a goal to 346 minutes.
For Hugo Lloris, a third consecutive shutout gave him 11 on the year, one shy of the league lead.
Toronto put three of its 10 shots on goal, while LAFC managed to do so seven times in 18 attempts.
Making their LAFC and MLS debuts Romanian forward Alexandru Băluță and Brazilian midfielder Jailson earned their first game action in front of an announced crowd of 22,020.
LAFC visits Austin on Sunday without Bouanga and Son before the pair rejoins the club for the regular-season finale on Oct. 18 in Colorado.
More to come on this story.