MLS: Son and Bouanga star for LAFC, Austin win late against Seattle

Denis Bouanga scored a hat-trick for Los Angeles as they beat Real Salt Lake 4-1 for the second time in the space of four days.

RSL took the lead after 14 minutes through Brayan Vera, but the hosts were back in front before the half-time whistle.

Son Heung-min, who scored a hat-trick when the two sides met during the week, assisted Bouanga’s equaliser in the first minute of additional time before putting LAFC ahead two minutes later with a long-range effort.

RSL pushed for an equaliser, and went close twice, but they were punished in the 73rd minute when a quick passage of play saw Bouanga through on goal and the forward coolly lobbed the goalkeeper.

The Gabon international then completed his hat-trick three minutes from time as Cabral could only parry the shot from point-blank range into the side-netting.

Elsewhere in the Western Conference, Austin FC closed the gap to the Seattle Sounders after they scored a 96th-minute winner in a 2-1 victory.

Diego Rubio put Austin ahead at the Q2 stadium three minutes before the break, but Georgi Minoungou equalised within 60 seconds of coming on as a half-time substitute.

Seattle, who produced 2.26 expected goals (xG) to Austin’s 1.63, went close to taking the lead through Jordan Morris and Snyder Brunell, but Myrto Uzuni managed to score at the death to take all three points.

The win sees Austin move just one point behind fifth-place Seattle in the West.

Data Debrief: Bouanga makes MLS history

Bouanga’s first goal against RSL saw him become the first player in MLS history to score 20 or more goals in three consecutive seasons.

The 30-year-old has scored 68 goals in 100 league games since the start of the 2023 campaign; Christian Benteke and Brian White have scored the second-most goals in that time with 46 each.

It was also a landmark day for Steve Cherundolo, who achieved his 100th win in all competitions as LAFC head coach.