LOS ANGELES (AP) — Son Heung-min was left frustrated and disappointed after his long-awaited home debut for Los Angeles FC ended with a 2-1 loss to San Diego FC on Sunday night.
And while the South Korean superstar's legions of new and longtime fans didn't get to see a goal from their hero or a team victory at BMO Stadium, at least they got a glimpse of the tantalizing potential in Son's new team after it has a bit more time together.
“I couldn’t wait for this night, and then I feel like I let the fans down," Son said after his first defeat in four matches with LAFC. "But we’ve got to (keep) our heads up and accept this result. We move forward and we work hard, and we’ll be back stronger than ever.”
Son finished with two shots on net and several strong attacking moments mostly after halftime during a tense meeting with Western Conference-leading San Diego in front of a raucous sellout crowd eager to welcome Los Angeles' next sporting superstar.
The most agonizing moment was when Son hit the post with a screaming shot in the 78th minute. He also forced goalkeeper CJ Dos Santos to leave his feet make a save late in each half.
But Son couldn't finish his chances, and his team couldn't rally in the second half after San Diego stars Hirving Lozano and Anders Dreyer erased the early lead created by Denis Bouanga's 15th-minute goal for LAFC.
The result left LAFC 15 points behind expansion San Diego in fifth place in the conference standings, even though LAFC has three games in hand.
Son has one goal and one assist in his four MLS matches, scoring on a beautiful free kick last weekend at FC Dallas. LAFC recorded one win and two draws on the road this month, stoking Los Angeles' anticipation of the longtime Tottenham star's debut in his new home nearly four weeks after LAFC announced the landmark signing.
The crowd roared for Son from the moment he stepped on the field for warmups in Los Angeles, which has the world’s largest Korean population outside Korea. With thousands of fans wearing his jerseys for club and country, Son repeatedly waved to those cheering him on, and he exhorted the crowd into a frenzy right before kickoff by pumping his arms.
“I’ve been in amazing stadiums and experienced a lot, but today was very special,” Son said. “I feel like the fans were amazing. That’s why I’m more upset, because they deserved more today than one goal and zero points. They were fantastic. I can’t wait to play at home again. It felt like really, really home, you know? They were welcoming me.”
After a slow first half broken up only by Bouanga’s goal, LAFC finally got rolling. Son and Bouanga were active and dangerous in the second half, but repeatedly failed to cash in their numerous scoring chances.
Son couldn't get a shot on target after a beautiful long pass from former Tottenham teammate Hugo Lloris in the 74th minute, and Bouanga was left in disbelief after he was unable to capitalize while alone against Dos Santos in the 82nd minute.
LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo wasn't discouraged by his star forwards' inability to equalize, and he sees promising signs from their new partnership.
“To be frank, it's been excellent,” Cherundolo said. “We've had three away games and one home game, and we've created a lot of chances. Both of them are creating for each other, helping each other. ... We are definitely creating chances, and Sonny is helping us. We just need to be better at executing. Tonight, if you look at the stats, at (expected goals), the moments we had in front of goal, it's crazy that we walk away with nothing.”
Son jumped straight into LAFC’s lineup after playing a full season for Tottenham, capped by a cathartic Europa League triumph and a summer tour in Asia in which he departed Spurs with an emotional farewell in Seoul.
Son is leaving Los Angeles again for international duty this week, but he'll return with eight matches left in this exhausting year.
“When I come back from the national team, we have probably two very important months, so we've got to push for that,” Son said. “We're still very excited.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
Greg Beacham, The Associated Press
