South Korean forward Son Heung-min has begun his path of redemption after a bitter role with his team in the 2026 World Cup. The former Tottenham Hotspur attacker became the absolute leader of LAFC's 3-1 victory over Real Salt Lake, by directly contributing to a goal, causing a rival own goal and participating in the play for the second goal.

Erasing the World Cup scars

The Angelenos capitalized on the very high level of Son, who sought to leave behind the scars from the tough defeats against Mexico and South Africa, as well as a victory over the Czech Republic in Group A of the World Cup, where South Korea could not overcome the first phase.

The South Korean kept the bad memories in the jar and exhibited his talent to pass over the Utah squad. The Mexican-American Diego Luna plays in this team, who was surprisingly left out of Mauricio Pochettino's final list for the World Cup tournament.

With this result, LAFC reaches its ninth victory of the season (adding 3 draws and 5 losses), reaching 30 points. With this, they establish themselves at the top of the Western Conference, putting direct pressure on the 32 units held by the leaders Vancouver Whitecaps and San Jose Earthquakes.

Forcefulness at the BMO Stadium

Son recovered his smile in Los Angeles after the post-World Cup vacation and it didn't take him long to show it. In the 11th minute, he opened the scoring with a powerful left-footed shot after receiving an assist from Canadian Jacob Shaffelburg. Later, in the 40th minute, the Asian started a counterattack, giving way to Mathieu Choinière, who filtered a precise ball for the Gabonese Denis Bouanga to sign the overwhelming temporary 2-0.

The party was completed in the 68th minute. After receiving a pass from David Martínez, Son overflowed and sent a poisonous cross that ended up being deflected by Real Salt Lake defender, DeAndre Yedlin, embedding the ball into his own goal for the 3-0 score.

Statistical impact and fear offensive

The Korean's specific weight was reflected in the statistical portals, which gave him a rating of 7.9 for his 72 minutes on the court. During that period, Son accumulated three shots, two clear options created and a superb 94% accuracy in his passes. The attacker confirmed that he is still on fire after having previously scored against the Los Angeles Galaxy in the classic “El Tráfico”.

At the forefront of the offensive, Son served as the axis of a fearsome trident completed by Bouanga and Shaffelburg on the wings. Although Real Salt Lake defender Lukas Engel scored the winning goal in the 86th minute with a deflected shot, the fate of the match was already decided in favor of the Californians.