Son Heung-min drew a foul in his MLS debut, leading to Denis Bouanga’s successful penalty kick in the 81st minute, and sending visiting LAFC to a 2-2 draw with the Chicago Fire on Saturday night in Bridgeview, Ill.
With LAFC (10-6-7, 37 points) trailing 2-1, a streaking Son was fouled in the box by Chicago’s Carlos Teran, who scored the night’s first goal, in 77th minute. The call came following a lengthy video review.
Bouanga, who came on as a substitute, then stepped to the spot and found the top right corner of the net for his 20th goal of the season. LAFC are 0-1-2 following a three-match winning streak.
Meanwhile, the result was rather disappointing for Chicago (10-9-6, 36 points), which got a goal from Jonathan Bamba and two assists via Philip Zinckernagel, but twice blew leads. Still, the Fire are amid a 2-0-2 stretch.
Introduced by the team Wednesday after signing a deal reportedly worth $26.5 million through 2027, with an option for 2028, according to MLS.com, Son, the longtime South Korean national and Tottenham Hotspur star, made his first league appearance in the 61st minute. Six minutes later, he took his first shot, a low left-footer easily corralled by Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady.
However, Bamba gave Chicago the lead in the 70th minute. Off a pass from Zinckernagel, a close-in Bamba powered the ball past LAFC keeper Hugo Lloris.
Los Angeles started solid, via ball possession, but Chicago struck first. Off a perfectly placed ball from Zinckernagel’s corner, Teran got enough to find the bottom far corner 11 minutes into the match.
LAFC nearly leveled the contest four minutes later, but Brady saved a breakaway chance from Nathan Ordaz. However, the visitors did answer on 19 minutes, when they scored via their own header off a corner from Ryan Hollingshead.
Zinckernagel had a major opportunity to go back ahead, but an open drive from just outside the center of the box went wide left in the 33rd minute.
LAFC also failed via a prime chance just before the hour mark. But it was Brady two-handing Timothy Tillman’s point-blank, up-close shot.
–Field Level Media
