Son Heung-min kept up his fine form in MLS with a brilliant hat trick as LAFC beat Real Salt Lake away from home on Wednesday night.
The South Korean captain and former Tottenham star now has five goals in six MLS games since joining in early August. After ten years in the Premier League, he has adapted quickly to North American soccer. LAFC sit in fourth place in the Western Conference with six matches left in the regular season.
With Denis Bouanga also firing this season on 19 goals, LAFC carry strong attacking power into the playoffs. Last year, they fell to the Seattle Sounders in the conference semifinal, but this season looks more promising.
Son struck early in the third minute, finishing a breakaway after a smart pass from Timothy Tillman. His second came in the 16th minute when Ryan Hollingshead slipped him the ball. Son drove forward and fired a low shot past goalkeeper Rafael Cabral from outside the box.
Real Salt Lake cut the deficit in the 76th minute with a stunning acrobatic strike from Zavier Gozo. But Son and Bouanga combined again to finish the job. With eight minutes left, Bouanga broke free and unselfishly set up Son for a simple tap-in and his third of the night.
Bouanga then sealed the win in the 88th minute. This time he went alone, bursting past the defense and beating Cabral to score his 94th goal for LAFC. That moved him past Carlos Vela as the club’s all-time top scorer. The home side’s misery grew when Victor Olatunji was sent off in stoppage time.
Son has shown no signs of slowing down since leaving Tottenham. Earlier this month he impressed again, scoring in South Korea’s friendly win over the United States. He and Bouanga also shone in LAFC’s 4-2 win at San Jose last week, where Bouanga hit a hat trick and Son added one goal.
