​Sep 5, 2026; Sandy, Utah, USA; Los Angeles FC forward Tyler Boyd (19) and Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna (10) battle for possession in the second half at America First Field.SANDY, Utah — For a team that has spent much of the season being defined by its defense, LAFC is finding that its biggest problem at the wrong time of the year may be keeping the ball out of its own net.The Black & Gold had another chance Saturday to turn its position near the top of the Western Conference into some breathing room. Instead, a 2-2 draw with Real Salt Lake at America First Field extended LAFC’s winless run to five MLS matches, leaving a team that is still sitting third in the West wondering how many more points it can afford to leave behind.Marc Dos Santos knew the match was going to open up. LAFC’s three-man back line was designed in part to take advantage of RSL’s struggles in transition, and for stretches, it worked exactly as intended. The problem was what happened when LAFC had to defend those same open spaces.“Sometimes the game was a little bit too open,” Dos Santos said. “It benefited us more than in the offensive phase, but it was sometimes difficult in the defensive phase that we have to be more compact at moments.”That lack of compactness showed up early.RSL had already forced Hugo Lloris into a pair of saves before Denis Bouanga gave LAFC the lead in the 11th minute, racing down the left side before cutting inside Philip Quinton and curling his finish into the far corner. Seven minutes later, Saba Lobjanidze exposed the other side of the story. LAFC failed to clear a loose ball, and Lobjanidze was left with enough space inside the box to tie the game.Bouanga had an answer again in the 38th minute. After receiving a long ball from Tyler Boyd, he beat Quinton once more and cut the ball back toward Son Heung-Min, who finished first time to restore the lead.Bouanga ➡️ SonLAFC’s attacking duo combine to retake the lead! pic.twitter.com/q86IUxZfsK— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 6, 2026For all the defensive uncertainty behind them, Bouanga and Son gave LAFC the kind of attacking threat it had been missing during a stretch in which it had scored just once across its previous four MLS matches. Bouanga was involved in both goals, creating the first himself and setting up the second.But LAFC could not turn that advantage into three points.The opportunities were there early in the second half. Tyler Boyd missed a cross at the back post with the goalkeeper out of position, while another chance nearly put LAFC up 3-1. Lloris then had to make a major save in the 54th minute to preserve the lead.Dos Santos pointed to that stretch as the turning point. LAFC kept creating chances but never found the third goal that could have taken control of the match.“When you don’t score the third goal and you kind of leave it still open, RSL at home, you know,” Dos Santos said. “So that part was tough.”RSL’s triple substitution in t