'Given and taken away' Son Heung-min's 16th assist suddenly canceled... Club's new history also fails to materialize due to MLS's ambiguous assist criteria

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Son Heung-min (34), the 'ace' of Los Angeles FC (LAFC) in Major League Soccer (MLS), narrowly missed making club history. A baffling situation unfolded where his 16th assist of the season was recorded and then suddenly canceled.

Son Heung-min started and played the full match in LAFC's home game against Minnesota United in Round 33 of the 2026 MLS regular season, held at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California, at 10:30 a.m. (KST) on the 2nd.

On this day, LAFC lost 1-3 to Minnesota, which is near the bottom of the Western Conference. Son Heung-min also failed to score as he was held back by the opponent's tight defense and the goalkeeper's saves.

However, an opportunity for Son Heung-min to earn an attacking point arose late in the match. In the closing minutes of the second half, while LAFC was trailing 0-3, Sergio Vasquez scored a consolation goal with a fantastic overhead kick. Son Heung-min set up the goal by connecting the ball from the center to the right flank during this sequence.

Initially, Son Heung-min's assist was recognized. The MLS match record displayed one assist alongside Son Heung-min's name.

However, the situation changed afterward. As the MLS records were revised, Son Heung-min's assist disappeared. Ultimately, Vasquez's goal was recorded as a goal without an assist.

This was all the more disappointing for Son Heung-min because a club record was at stake.

Son Heung-min has recorded 7 goals and 15 assists in this season's MLS regular league. This ties with the club's single-season most assists record set by LAFC legend Carlos Vela in the 2019 season.

With just one more assist, Son Heung-min would have surpassed Vela to become the first player in LAFC history to record 16 assists in a single season.

It seemed that the record would be broken in this match against Minnesota as well. However, with the recognition of the assist reversed, Son Heung-min's season assist count remained at 15. The club's new history was postponed until the next opportunity.

This incident occurred due to MLS's unique criteria for recognizing assists.

Unlike major European football leagues, MLS operates a system called 'secondary assist.' This method recognizes not only the final pass leading to a goal but also passes that contributed to the attacking buildup immediately preceding it as assists.

This differs from typical football leagues in that up to two assists can be recorded for a single goal.

However, simply making a pass before a goal does not automatically result in an assist being credited. MLS determines whether to recognize a secondary assist by evaluating whether the specific pass directly contributed to the goal.

Ultimately, how a player's contribution during the attacking buildup is judged becomes crucial.

Previously, Son Heung-min had added attacking points several times due to MLS's unique assist recognition criteria.

In the match against Austin FC on the 15th of last month, a ball cleared by the opposing goalkeeper hit Son Heung-min's back and connected to Denis Bouanga. Bouanga finished it with a goal, and MLS recognized Son Heung-min's assist.

This time, however, an assist that was initially recognized disappeared, preventing him from adding an attacking point.

In the match against Minnesota, Son Heung-min recorded 2 shots and 1 shot on target. He also created the most chances for his team with 4, but finished the game without an attacking point. Football statistics media FootMob gave Son Heung-min a rating of 7.2.

Meanwhile, LAFC's loss on this day left them with a record of 12 wins, 11 draws, and 10 losses (47 points), keeping them in 6th place in the Western Conference.

LAFC will play their final regular season match against Seattle Sounders on the 8th. Son Heung-min still has an opportunity to challenge again for the club's single-season most assists record.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original