SALT LAKE CITY (November 7, 2026) – The LA Galaxy (11-12-11, 44 points) fell 2-1 on the road to Western Conference side Real Salt Lake (13-15-6, 45 points) on Decision Day of the 2026 MLS Regular Season at America First Field in Sandy, Utah. The hosts jumped out to an early 2-0 lead inside of 15 minutes, but LA fought to pull one back just before the end of the first half. Despite a frantic finish to the second half, Real Salt Lake held on to secure the points and the Galaxy’s season came to an end.
Goalscoring Plays
RSL – Sergi Solans (Noel Caliskan, Philip Quinton), 10th minute: Solans opened the scoring by finishing a one-on-one opportunity after Caliskan played him in behind.
RSL – Zach Booth, 13th minute: After a recycled corner kick opportunity, Booth intercepted a pass in the penalty area and finished from close range to double the hosts' lead.
LA – Luc de Fougerolles (OG), 40th minute: After João Klauss played a pass to Hirving Lozano on the right side of the box, Lozano's low cross toward the back post was redirected into the net by a Real Salt Lake defender to bring the visitors within one.
Postgame Notes
- Galaxy forward and Designated Player Joseph Paintsil eclipsed the century mark in appearances across all competitions for LA with his start in tonight’s contest.
- Tonight’s match marked the return of midfielder Pablo Ruiz to America First Field to face his former squad for the first time as a member of the Galaxy.
- With the loss tonight, the LA Galaxy finished the season in 11th place in the Western Conference, and just one point below the playoff line.
Match Information
Match: LA Galaxy at Real Salt Lake
Date: November 7, 2026
Venue: America First Field; Sandy, Utah
Weather: Clear and 49°F
Scoring Summary
|
1
|
2
|
F
|
LA Galaxy
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
Real Salt Lake
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
RSL – Sergi Solans (Noel Caliskan, Philip Quinton), 10’
RSL – Zach Booth, 13’
LA – Luc de Fougerolles (OG), 40’
Lineups
LA Galaxy: GK JT Marcinkowski; D Harbor Miller (Kyōgo Furuhashi, 83'), D Justin Haak, D Emiro Garcés, D John Nelson; M Pablo Ruiz (Erik Thommy, 62'), M Sergi Roberto (Lucas Calegari, 83'), M Marco Reus; F Hirving Lozano (Robert Taylor, 63'), F Joseph Paintsil, F João Klauss
Substitutes not used: Novak Mićović, Jakob Glesnes, Julián Aude, Elijah Wynder, Lucas Sanabria
Real Salt Lake: GK Rafael Cabral; D Zach Booth (DeAndre Yedlin, 58'), D Kobi Henry (Justen Glad, 58'), D Philip Quinton, D Luc Rollet de Fougerolles, D Juan Sanabria; M Stijn Spierings, M Noel Caliskan, M Morgan Guilavogui (Ariath Piol, 71'), M Saba Lobjanidze (Alexandros Katranis, 90+2'); F Sergi Solans
Substitutes not used: Lukas Engel, Colin Guske, Mason Stajduhar, Luca Moisa, Aiden Hezarkhani
Stats Summary
|
LA
|
RSL
|
Shots
|
20 |
14
|
Shots on Goal
|
9
|
1 |
Saves
|
1
|
6
|
Corner Kicks
|
6
|
9
|
Fouls
|
12 |
9 |
Offsides
|
1
|
1
|
Possession
|
43.1%
|
56.9%
|
Misconduct Summary
RSL: Kobi Henry (caution) 15’
RSL: Juan Manuel Sanabria (caution) 45+3’
RSL: Luc de Fougerolles (caution) 55’
RSL: Sergi Solans (caution) 77’
LA: Emiro Garcés (caution) 87’
Officials
Referee: Joe Dickerson
Assistant Referees: Cameron Blanchard, Jeremy Hanson
Fourth Official: Elijio Arreguin
VAR: Carol Anne Chenard, Jonathan Johnson
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
LA Galaxy Postgame Top Quotes
LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney
On how things played out tonight:
“I think early in the game, we wanted our wingers to be in closer to João and to Marco, because I feel like, when we play against teams with three center backs, three big guys protecting the goal, we've got to have more guys around our forward and more guys moving for each other in that position. And like I said, at the beginning, we were just very far apart. Our wingers were really wide. Marco is trying to create overloads in the midfield against their two, but then that just means João is very, very much on an island. And so, you know, we're trying to get back to some of the things that we've done in previous games, where the guys were close together. There was more dynamic running, more guys running, you know, through the lines, and protecting, and going for the depth, and I felt like we just ended up, like I said, we just ended up kind of in front of them, and too far apart, and we couldn't really build runs off of each other. Or we didn’t, it's not that we couldn't. We just didn't build runs, for example, one guy running into space, and the other guy filling the space that he ran out of, and just the connection there, I feel like it was a little bit isolated, and we were too far apart. So, over the course of the game, we tried different looks to try to get more people and just around João. We tried to push somebody more into a second forward. We tried to get the wingers to understand they'd be closer and why. So, you know, things that we had talked about during the week, I felt like there was, there were gaps, and not just things we talked about during the week, but things that had gotten us success in some of these games previous that were, you know, against back fives, back three, so I feel like we just, again, we missed the mark.”
On what went wrong this season:
“Well, I think we had different versions of ourselves throughout the course of the year, again. Like, you know, the beginning of the year, I think we've spent since losing Riqui and Mark and Gaston and that group, I think we've spent a good chunk of time trying to rebuild sort of that midfield infrastructure that was made this team great. Outside of that, we've also, this year, unfortunately, went through a striker issue, and then we were playing with False Nines for a good portion of half of the season. But ultimately, I think it comes down to a couple things. One, I think our intensity level needs to be higher for MLS games. I think our intensity level was often kind of in this moderate range where the demands of intensity are higher in MLS. That means more work, more workers, more work, but also about maintaining the quality that we need, you know, to also win games and make a difference. So, I thought it was a little bit tonight, and I think if you look at some of the stats over the year, sometimes our intensity level tends to be in the lower section of the league. So, I think, in the game now, you have got to be able to run, you have got to be able to think while you're running, you got to be able to execute while you're running and thinking, and I think for us, we have bits and pieces of that at times. I think if you want to be a team that can compete for a supporter shield or a top of a division or whatever, when you look at those teams that are doing that, they are doing all of those things together. They're running, they're competing, and they're thinking all at the same time.”
On the mentality tonight:
“Yeah, I mean, it's hard to not have the intensity for a game like this. It's hard to pull together. I feel like we all let the fans down, because they were riding this ride with us, and when we come here, we need to put that intensity in, and we need to compete and play. It's not about me, it's about us, and it's about the bigger Galaxy family and the bigger Galaxy image. I think, you know, all of us together, it is a team, because we win together, we lose together. We just didn't get it done tonight, but again, it's not just about tonight. For me, it's still about, you know, you can go all the way back to the first game in a game that we're very comfortable in to take three points, we take a red card, and we give away two more points, and I can give you a series of those events over the course of the year, where we, we do little things to what I believe is more, as much to ourselves as the opposition does to us. So, that doesn't mean we haven't played really good oppositions, and they came out ready tonight, and they were flying, and we didn't meet the moment. But there's a lot of moments through the course of the season that leave you in this one moment where you reflect and you go, it was one point difference between being in and out. Obviously, our standard is more than one point, but it was one point difference between being in and out.”
LA Galaxy Defender John Nelson
On the result tonight:
“That was what we talked about all week, coming out here [and] having a good start. When you go two nil down -- It is a playoff game at this point and you go 2-0 down, it makes everything harder. Yeah, like, the gaps between us in the midfield, it was just way too open. We lost the ball way too many times in the first half. They felt like they just kept coming at us and coming at us. But yeah, two nil down in the first 15 minutes is so hard, especially on the road. And then we're just behind the eight ball. Yeah, there's really not much to say. Honestly, it's just not good enough. It's not good enough.”
On the message for the fans:
“I mean, the last seven games, I thought were, were really good. We were really strong, really positive, and tonight, we fell short. So, that's what I would say. We think we got our group. I would say that, you know, the last few games this season were positive. But again, we fell short, nothing else to say.”
On if he would like to continue playing for Greg Vanney:
“100%. 100%. 100%. I love playing for the Galaxy. I love playing for the crest. I love playing for these fans, and for sure, I love playing for Greg and this coaching staff. Absolutely love it. So, yeah, 100%.”
