SANDY, Utah — LAFC’s new one-two punch is leaving opponents dazed and confused.
Son Heung-min secured his first MLS hat trick on a sliding finish in the 82nd minute and LAFC beat Real Salt Lake, 4-1, on Wednesday night.
Denis Bouanga added his 94th career LAFC goal in all competitions late in the second half to become the club’s all-time leading scorer.
The win vaulted the Black and Gold (13-7-8, 47 points) into fourth place in the Western Conference standings ahead of the Seattle Sounders (12-8-9, 45 points) with six games left in the regular season.
LAFC was coming off a 4-2 victory over San Jose on Saturday in which Bouanga recorded his third career hat trick and Heung-min added the other goal in the opening minute.
Heung-min gave his team another early spark on Wednesday. The South Korean star, who joining LAFC a month ago from Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League, scored on a breakaway in the third minute for a 1-0 lead.
After players from both sides made tackles on the ball in the center circle, Timothy Tillman won the last of those challenges and directed the ball perfectly into Heung-min’s run down the left.
The 33-year-old had plenty of time to take two settling touches before driving a low finish past RSL goalkeeper Rafael.
Heung-min doubled LAFC’s lead in the 16th minute, and Tillman was again involved with a strong run down the left before laying the ball off to Ryan Hollingshead and continuing up the field.
Hollingshead played the ball to Heung-min beyond the top of the 18-yard box, and Son curled a right-footed, 25-yard strike beyond Rafael’s dive into the bottom right corner.
In the 82nd minute, Bouanga raced from his own half to an outlet ball down the right side. Heung-min joined him on the break and tapped in an easy sliding finish off of Bouanga’s unselfish cross to complete his hat trick and give the visitors a 3-1 lead.
Bouanga scored six minutes later on a similar breakaway set up by David Martinez to break a tie with former MLS MVP Carlos Vela for the most goals in club history with 94.
Bouanga has 19 MLS goals this season, the third-best total in the league.
Heung-min has five goals in six league matches since his August arrival.
Salt Lake (10-15-4, 34 points) has lost four of its last five matches and is in 10th place in the Western Conference, a point behind San Jose (9-13-8) for the final playoff spot.
RSL missed a penalty kick in the 45th when Rwan Cruz’s attempt hit off the right post and went across the goal line to goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who had gone the other way.
Teenager Zavier Gozo scored on a beautiful side volley to cut RSL’s deficit to 2-1 in the 76th minute.
Salt Lake forward Victor Olatunji was sent off during second-half stoppage time for violent conduct and will be suspended when the teams square off again Sunday at BMO Stadium.
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