(East Los Angeles, CA) [From The Editor’s Desk]: The change to our country’s Daylight Savings Time became the new, and much-awaited, time standard, but not before LAFC had one final winter night to showcase another big MLS win in this early phase of the 2026 season. The Black & Gold were all set to confront FC Dallas on a fairly decent Southern California evening, with the weather holding at 65° in the breezy, but slightly windswept City of the Angels.

[LAFC STARTING XI]: GoalKeeper #1 Hugo Lloris; DF #4 Eddie Segura; FW #7 Son Heung-Min; MF #8 Mark Delgado; MF #11 Timothy Tillman; MF #14 Sergi Palencia; FW #30 David Martínez; MF #46 Stephen Eustáquio; DF #5 Ryan Porteous; DF #91 Nkosi Tafari; and FW #99 Denis Bouanga

[MATCH SUMMARY]

[REFEREE]: Drew Fisher

[1st HALF]: At the (9:30) mark, there was a roar from the crowd when Bouanga & Son Hueng-Min drove to the goal after a steal by Bouanga on the left flank. He made a good pass to Heung-Min, who took it in stride, but once he was in the penalty box, there was a collision with a Dallas defender, and he fell to the turf. But there was no whistle from Referee Fisher, and Dallas eventually cleared the ball, avoiding the dangerous moment they had just faced.

[PHOTO GALLERY CREDIT]: East L.A. Sports Scene Productions / Photos By: Frankli Robles, Lead Photographer

Meanwhile, during the first (30:00) minutes of the period, the Black & Gold’s veteran Goalkeeper, #1 Hugo Lloris, was very busy with 3 blocks and 1 deflected shot that went over the netting and into the stands as he kept his match-day slate clean. At minute (35:00), LAFC began to camp out in Dallas’s scoring territory, but several attempts, including a corner kick, only created good chances but no goal. A last-ditch effort by LAFC to score came at the (43:00) minute mark when #7 Heung-Min dribbled deep into the 17-yard box and just to the left side of the goal, he attempted to drive it home, but was unsuccessful. The crowd showed its passionate appreciation of the effort with strong applause for Heung-Min. Right after that play phase, the first half of the match ended in a draw at (0-0).

[HALF-TIME SCORE]: LAFC  0   FC Dallas  0

[2nd HALF]: The second period started out exactly like the first, but in much less time, LAFC took advantage of the situational awareness they had gained while in the attack zone in front of the FC Dallas goal. Then, at the (55:00) minute mark Forward, #30 David Martínez was in the middle of the pitch facing the goal when, after a few passes in front of him, the ball came shuffling back to him while ucovered by the defense, and he simply put his powerful left leg into the ball and it sailed long and upward from about 25 yards out and then into the high left-side netting as the Goalkeeper, #30 Michael Collodi, stretched out as long as he could, but to no avail, and it thus became the first goal of the match. On hand to celebrate with Martínez was his former Coach, Steve Cherundolo, who happily congratulated him. It was now, the Black & Gold 1, FC Dallas 0.

At the (70:00) minute mark, Coach Dos Santos began to use his reserves, and #65 Amin Boudri came in for #11 Timothy Tillman. At the 76th minute, another chance to score developed when there was an overload of Black & Gold players attacking from close range at the goal. But #99 Bouanga took his shot, and it rebounded off the goalie, negating the scoring effort for a much-welcomed insurance goal of the match. However, Dallas had no quit in them as they rallied in stoppage time to put a scare into the Black & Gold. However, there, in the right place at the right time, was Lloris for yet another outstanding save, with yet another hard-fought shutout victory, and another masterpiece for the great team fanbase to view during his LAFC tenure, playing one of the toughest positions on the team and in all of soccer. Referee Fisher added nearly (8:00) minutes of stoppage time to officially end the match.

[FULL-TIME SCORE]: LAFC 1  Dallas FC  0     [ATTENDANCE]: 22,130

[OF SIGNIFICANCE]: The intensity and tenacity of the veteran Goalkeeper, #1 Hugo Lloris, who had a total of 5 saves that came from all 5 shots on goal, resulting in another clean-slate match. The Time of Possession category greatly favored LAFC, with its accumulation of 60.8% compared to Dallas’ 39.2%. The Black & Gold doubled the total number of passes with a margin of 675 to the visitors’ 380. Additionally, we must highlight the exceptional scoring ability of the young forward, #30 David Martínez—named the “Player of the Match”—who continues to impress fans with his sharp instincts and game intelligence.

[NEXT UP IN MLS MATCHES]: St. Louis City FC, Saturday, March 14th at 7:30 pm, BMO Stadium. To Watch: Apple TV, Coupang Play & SPOTV (Korea); To Listen: 710 AM ESPN LA, ESPN App (English), 980 AM La Mera Mera (Spanish), 1230 AM K-Radio (Korean), Sirius XM channel 157 (ENG)