![\"MLS:](\"https:\/\/images.deadspin.com\/tr:w-900\/28311396.jpg\")
Feb 21, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles FC forward Denis Bouanga (99) celebrates his goal past Inter Miami CF goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair (97) during the second half at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-Imagn Images <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\nLos Angeles FC will try to continue their perfect start under new head coach Marc Dos Santos on Saturday night when they visit a Houston Dynamo side that was among the busiest in MLS in terms of offseason transactions.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Dos Santos’ Black and Gold opened their regular season with a dominant 3-0 victory over Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on Feb. 21. On either side of that, LAFC (1-0-0, 3 points) defeated Real Espana in the first round of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, 6-1 away in the first leg in Honduras and 1-0 in the return fixture at home on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Denis Bouanga recorded four goals in an assist over those first two matches, and Son Heung-Min added four assists. Yet Dos Santos still decided to play the star duo for the first half of the return leg on Tuesday, despite being virtually assured of advancing.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “Rhythm,” he said. “Sonny didn’t have a perfect preseason, so it’s important that he keeps getting rhythm. And I told both Sonny and Denis this week that I would have them 45 minutes on the field, that at halftime we would make the changes. So they were aware of it.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The Dynamo (1-0-0, 3 points) opened their regular season with a 2-1 home victory over the Chicago Fire on Feb. 21, coming from behind on a pair of goals from the Brazilian Guilherme Augusto in his MLS debut.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n <\/p>\n In addition to the 30-year-old former Santos captain, the Dynamo added former LAFC winger Mateusz Bogusz from Cruz Azul and brought back Hector Herrera from Toluca this winter to bolster a squad that finished 12th in Western Conference in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Herrera, 35, was previously part of the Houston side that reached the 2023 West final. He has yet to see the field in his return.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Houston manager Ben Olsen suggested his new-look side’s second test could be a lot more difficult than the first. It also might be a good measuring stick.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “A team that is as good as, I think, any team in league history in how they transition and the quality they have in the attack,” Olsen said of LAFC. “We’ll have our work cut out for us, but I think it’s a challenge that this group is very excited about.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n