St. Louis City braces for powerful LAFC offense

Los Angeles FC enter Saturday's playoff tune-up at St. Louis City in high gear after winning three MLS matches in a span of eight days behind the brilliant work of Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga.

During the spree, LAFC (14-7-8, 50 points) scored four goals in each of the wins, with Son and Bouanga combining for 10 of the tallies on just 23 shots. The duo fuels an attack which has put up 57 goals, tied for the most in the Western Conference.

The winning streak has put Los Angeles five points clear of fifth-place Seattle and in position to capture one of the top four seeds in the West, which would mean a home date in the opening round of the playoffs.

Also on an uptick is St. Louis City (7-17-7, 28 points), which is 2-0-1 since calling up 23-year-old Brendan McSorley.

In his MLS starting debut Saturday at San Jose, McSorley notched a brace and an assist, propelling St. Louis to a 3-1 victory.

McSorley has helped energize a team which is all but eliminated from playoff contention for the second straight year but has taken positive strides since interim coach David Critchley took over in May.

"The team has gotten so much better over the last half of the season but for my standards and expectations were still not near the level that I want us to be," Critchley said.

LAFC is thinking big with the addition of Son, who was acquired in a reported record transfer deal of $26.5 million in August after serving a decade for Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League.

Son delivered a hat trick in a 4-1 victory at Real Salt Lake on Sept. 17. Four days later, Bouanga did the same in another 4-1 win over RSL, this one at home.

Bouanga's splurge gives him 22 goals this season. It is his third straight year of at least 20 goals to become the first player in the 30-year history of MLS to accomplish the feat.

"Three seasons in a row, it's a massive thing," Son said. "It's not random. It's not lucky."

In the first match against St. Louis, a 2-2 draw on April 27, Bouanga scored both goals for LAFC, including the dramatic game-tying tally in the fifth minute of stoppage time.