Mark Delgado scored and assisted after halftime, while Stephen Eustaquio added a long-range goal as LAFC defeated the nine-man Houston Dynamo 2-0 on Saturday night.
Son Heung-Min assisted both goals and drew two red card fouls from Houston players, helping LAFC (2-0-0, 6 points) maintain their perfect start under new manager Marc Dos Santos.
In stoppage time of the first half, Antonio Carlos was shown a straight red card for a foul on Son. Later, in the 76th minute, Agustin Bouzat pulled down Son during a breakaway, resulting in another red card for denying a clear goal-scoring chance.
Hugo Lloris made two saves to secure his second clean sheet. Jonathan Bond stopped four shots for Houston (1-1-0, 3 points), which now has two weeks to prepare for its next match after a postponed trip to New England due to delays with the field installation.
Bouzat posed an early threat to LAFC in the second half when he tried to catch Lloris off guard, hitting the crossbar from midfield.
LAFC extended their lead in the 56th minute.
A short corner from Son led to Delgado receiving the ball just outside the left side of the penalty area. Delgado took a touch to his right and sent a curling shot from 24 yards, beating Bond into the bottom right corner.
Eustaquio, a loan player from FC Porto and a hopeful for the Canada World Cup team, scored his first MLS goal six minutes after Bouzat’s red card.
Again, Son dribbled towards the penalty area from Bouanga’s short corner and passed to Delgado, who set up Eustaquio at the edge of the penalty arc.
Eustaquio controlled the ball and unleashed a 25-yard shot through a crowd, finding the bottom left corner in the 82nd minute.
Even with both teams at full strength, LAFC dominated the match, holding 63% possession in the first half. They led in shots 9-6 and had 2-1 in shots on target before halftime.
Both of LAFC’s attempts on goal before the break came in the same play when Bouanga and Son forced consecutive saves from Bond in the 37th minute.