Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Los Angeles FC, fueled by two goals from Denis Bouanga and one apiece by Son Heung-min and Jeremy Ebobisse, beat Austin FC 4-1 on Sunday to advance in the MLS Cup playoffs. The victory in Austin, Texas, gave LAFC a 2-0 victory in the best-of-three round one series. They booked a one-match Western Conference semi-final showdown with German star Thomas Muller and the Vancouver Whitecaps, who polished off FC Dallas on Saturday.
Once again, it was the high-scoring duo of Bouanga and Son who did the heavy lifting. South Korean star Son, the former Tottenham captain who arrived in August, opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Fed by Bouanga on a counter attack, Son capped his run up the left side with a stinging right-footed shot into the bottom right corner. Three minutes later, another deadly LAFC counter-attack finished with Son finding Bouanga on the left side of the box, the Gabon international unleashing a shot that found the bottom left corner as Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver scrambled to get back to his line.
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Bouanga made it 2-1 in the 44th minute, Austin pulling a goal back in first-half stoppage time when Dani Pereira converted a penalty — his effort barely making it past LAFC keeper Hugo Lloris. Lloris had come up with a diving save on a penalty attempt by Myrto Uzuni in the 39th after a hand ball in the penalty area by Bouanga. Late sub Ebobisse added LAFC’s fourth in second-half stoppage time.
In the Eastern Conference, Columbus Crew beat 10-man FC Cincinnati 4-0 to force a decisive game three in their series. US international Max Arfsten put hosts Columbus up 1-0 in the 33rd minute, collecting a pass from Diego Rossi on the edge of the box and dribbling past charging Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celanto to bury the shot in the open net. Five minutes later, things got worse for Cincinnati when Yuya Kubo was sent off after bringing down Andres Herrera just outside the area.
Dylan Chambost doubled the score in the 41st minute with Herrera and Jacen Russell-Rowe adding second-half goals to seal the win. Russell-Rowe came on in the 61st and promptly made his presence felt, finding Herrera with a cross to the center of the box for Herrera’s goal in the 65th and scoring in the 69th. With the series knotted at one game apiece, Cincinnati will host the deciding game three on Saturday. The winner of the series will face either Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami or Nashville in an Eastern Conference semi-final match.
© 2024 AFP
