LOS ANGELES (Wednesday, May 29, 2024) –The LA Galaxy earned a 3-1 win over FC Dallas before 19,505 fans at Dignity Health Sports Park on Wednesday night. Dejan Joveljić recorded two goals, while Riqui Puig notched an assist for a second consecutive match as the Galaxy extended their unbeaten run to six matches dating back to May 5.
Unbeaten At Home
In seven matches played at home during the 2024 campaign, the LA Galaxy hold an unbeaten record of 4-0-3 (16 GF, 11 GA). The Galaxy (4-0-3) and the New York Red Bulls (4-0-2) are the only teams in MLS with an unbeaten record at home during the 2024 campaign. During those seven matches played at home, Puig has tallied six goal contributions (3 goals, 3 assists), Joveljić has notched four goals and one assist and Pec has recorded four goals and three assists at Dignity Health Sports Park. Notably, the Galaxy are one of three teams (New York Red Bulls, LAFC) in MLS with unbeaten records at home during the 2024 campaign.
LA Against Dallas
Tonight’s match marked the 92nd all-time meeting across all competitions between the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas, with LA leading the series 42-37-13. Against Dallas, LA holds a 36-33-13 record in league play, a 2-1-0 record in the U.S. Open Cup and a 4-3-0 record in the MLS Cup Playoffs. In 42 all-time regular-season matches played at home against FC Dallas, the Galaxy hold a 27-9-6 record.
Goal-Scoring Plays
LA – Dejan Joveljić (Gabriel Pec, Mark Delgado), 4th minute: In transition, Mark Delgado fed the ball out wide to Gabriel Pec. The Brazilian winger dribbled past a Dallas defender and laid the ball off to Dejan Joveljić, who drilled his shot into the lower left corner of the goal.
DAL – Patrickson Delgado (Marco Farfan, Paul Arriola), 22nd minute: Marco Farfan’s cross into the middle of the box was redirected in off the underside of the crossbar by Patrickson Delgado.
LA – Dejan Joveljić (Penalty Kick), 66th minute: After Diego Fagundez was fouled inside the box, Dejan Joveljić drilled his ensuing penalty-kick attempt past FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paas.
LA – Riqui Puig, 90+4th minute: Riqui Puig picked up the ball in midfield, dribbled past a Dallas defender before poking his shot from just outside the six-yard box into the bottom corner.
Postgame Notes
- Through 16 matches played during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy hold a 7-2-7 record (30 GF, 23 GA; 28 points) and sit in second place in the Western Conference standings behind Real Salt Lake (8-2-6, 31 GF, 18 GA; 30 points).
- Tonight’s match marked the 92nd all-time meeting across all competitions between the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas, with LA leading the series 42-37-13.
- In 42 all-time regular-season matches played at home against FC Dallas, the Galaxy hold a 27-9-6 record.
- LA is unbeaten in its last six matches played dating back to May 5, holding a 2-0-4 record (9 GF, 6 GF) during that span.
- The Galaxy (4-0-3), LAFC (6-0-2) and the New York Red Bulls (4-0-2) are the only teams in MLS with an unbeaten record at home during the 2024 campaign.
- The Galaxy’s 25 shots and 11 shots on target in the win over FC Dallas were a season-high.
- Dejan Joveljić notched his fourth career multi-goal performance in the 3-1 win over FC Dallas.
- Joveljić ranks tied for fifth in MLS this season with nine goals scored and has added two assists in 14 appearances (12 starts) in 2024.
- With Joveljić’s converted penalty kick in the 66th minute, the LA Galaxy are now two for five on penalty-kick attempts during the 2024 campaign.
- Riqui Puig finished the match with a goal scored, two chances created, 100 of 119 completed passes (84.0%), won eight of 13 duels, four possessions and four fouls and completed two dribbles in the 3-1 win over Dallas.
- In 11 matches played dating back to March 23, Puig has tallied three goals and eight assists.
- Mark Delgado recorded his sixth assist of the season, won seven of eight duels, three of four tackles and eight possessions, completed 99 of 109 passes (91.7%) and notched two interceptions against FC Dallas.
- In his last five matches played dating back to May 11, Gabriel Pec, who recorded an assist for a second consecutive match, has five goal contributions (2 goals, 3 assists) for the Galaxy during that span.
Next Game
**Next up, the LA Galaxy travel to face Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field on Saturday, June 1 (5:30 p.m. PT, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).
2024 MLS Regular Season
LA Galaxy (7-2-7, 28pts) vs. FC Dallas (3-7-4, 13pts)**
Wednesday, May 29, 2024 – Dignity Health Sports Park (Los Angeles)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
LA Galaxy 1 2 3
FC Dallas 1 0 1
Scoring Summary:
LA: Joveljić (Pec, Delgado), 4
DAL: Delgado (Farfan, Arriola), 22
LA: Joveljić (penalty kick), 66
LA: Puig, 90+4
Misconduct Summary:
DAL: Delgado (caution), 19
DAL: Tafari (caution), 34
DAL: Arriola (caution), 35
DAL: Farfan (caution), 45+4
DAL: Tafari (second caution, ejection), 82
LA: Yoshida (caution), 89
Lineups:
LA: GK John McCarthy; D Miki Yamane, D Jalen Neal, D Maya Yoshida ©, D Julián Aude; M Edwin Cerrillo (Jonathan Pérez, 80), M Mark Delgado, M Riqui Puig, F Gabriel Pec (Mauricio Cuevas, 88), F Diego Fagundez (Daniel Aguirre, 68), F Dejan Joveljić (Miguel Berry, 67)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Novak Mićović; D Martin Cáceres, D Emiro Garces, D John Nelson
TOTAL SHOTS: 25 (Gabriel Pec, 7); SHOTS ON GOAL: 11 (Gabriel Pec, 5); FOULS: 9 (Riqui Puig, Maya Yoshida, 2); OFFSIDES: 4; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 4
DAL: GK Maarten Paas; D Nkosi Tafari, M Sebastien Ibeagha, D Sam Junqua (Bernard Kamungo, 79), D Marco Farfan (Sebastian Lletget, 69); M Asier Illarramendi, M Liam Fraser (Dante Sealy, 67), M Ema Twumasi, M Patrickson Delgado (Omar Gonzalez, 85); F Paul Arriola © (Jesus Ferreira, 67), F Petar Musa
Substitutes Not Used: GK Jimmy Maurer; D Carl Sainte, M Katlego Ntsabeleng; F Logan Farrington
TOTAL SHOTS: 7 (Petar Musa, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Five players tied, 1); FOULS: 17 (Petar Musa, 4); OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 8
Referee: Filip Dujic
Assistant Referees: Cameron Blanchard, Brooke Mayo
Fourth Official: Mark Allatin
VAR: Kevin Stott
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 62 degrees
Attendance: 19,505
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
Postgame Media Assets
LA Galaxy postgame soundbites from media availability and match photos can be accessed when ready below.
- LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney (English)
- LA Galaxy Forward Dejan Joveljić (English)
- LA Galaxy Midfielder Riqui Puig (English & Spanish)
- LA Galaxy Defender Jalen Neal (English)
*Please credit LA Galaxy for any use
*
PHOTOS: https://mlssoccer.box.com/s/6xkucwbm2lngjs6ul1iz3m5yca1bqbgh
Please credit LA Galaxy for any use
LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY
On tonight's game:
"I thought we got off to a decent start. Obviously getting an early goal, getting a penalty, which we didn't obviously finish, and then they kind of scored a goal, obviously not having had a ton of the play, and a little bit against maybe things which leveled it out I think in terms of emotion. Maybe I think we started with a solid position and then kind of leveled out emotionally. Get a combination of sort of forcing some things, but also not really getting our runs going in behind as much as we need sometimes against the back five. The guys who you want to run through the lines don't really see the channels they want to run through, and the ball gets kind of stuck in front of that back line, and I felt like that was happening. I was trying to encourage certain guys at the right times to just take off for the depth a little bit to disorganize their back five or to threaten spaces in behind, and I thought in the second half, we started to do that better. We started to get out in the transition a little bit more, things like that, that helped us. Obviously we had set piece opportunities. Maya (Yoshida) couldn't buy a goal tonight despite a number of opportunities on the set piece and then we had some chances through. In the second half, just adapting, just a couple things a little bit, and us getting -- eventually getting on top of the game that led to us being able to -- them opening up a little bit more, and us having some counterattacking opportunities, as well, which I think one of our greatest strengths is actually in the transition. And obviously Riqui's (Puig) goal was special. But it got us going. I think midweek games, no matter what, home or away, they are a little bit strange because you don't get a lot of time to prepare for the opposition, and you have guys turning around on short notice. But I thought the guys did what they needed to do tonight in a good shift and took the three points."
On Gastón Brugman's situation and subs:
"Yeah, it was a little strange. He hit a shot in the warmup and I think more nerve-related with the knee, the knee that was repaired in the off-season. I don't think it's much, but we need to make sure. Certainly was having some discomfort more from a nerve area and not from something else. So we didn't want to risk anything obviously at this point of the year and given the circumstances. So Mark (Delgado), who was not going to start, and we were kind of rotating through that group a little bit had to quickly get thrown into action there last minute. And a night he was going to have less minutes, he ended up going 90. So guys have to adapt and be ready. Yeah, it was a little awkward in the locker room to lose a guy like Gastón (Brugman) and then just get everybody going, because I think there was a little bit of concern, too, as to what happened. But we got ourselves going. At the end of the game, obviously great to get Jonny (Perez) back on, and obviously Danny (Daniel Aguirre) back out there, Mauricio (Cuevas), guys like that to get them out there was great and they brought some dynamic actions, and it was good to see them."
On road games:
Look, we had three a couple weeks ago, and it was home, which obviously a draw against RSL, we started strong and had to battle our way back. And then we went on the road and we managed the road pretty well. We had a chance to win potentially there in Minnesota after a bad start, but we had a chance to win down the stretch. Unfortunately we weren't able to get the three, but we got the one. And we went and played a nice, solid third game on the East Coast there in North Carolina everyone and managed it well, and guys that were called on stepped up, and the team was nice and solid. And so we got off to six points at home in the first two games this week, which was our target, of course, and now quick turnaround. I'm sure we'll have some adjustment to the group and some rotation as we go into now travel and play. So we'll see how guys turn around after today, but we'll have some rotation and guys that are going to get an opportunity are certainly going to be motivated and are going to go out ready and compete and play. The group's target was nine points this week, so there's a lot to play for."
On defender Emiro Garces :
"He's ready. He's ready to help us and ready to play now. I'm trying to get him in a good circumstance. There was an opportunity maybe at the end of this game to go to three in the back and maybe utilize him. I don't want to throw him out there when there was one goal, game on the line. That's not maybe for me the right moment because I want him to be successful and give him the best opportunity to be successful in the moment. It took him a couple weeks in my opinion, and he probably would say the same thing, just to get settled in; the intensity of our training sessions, the intensity that he's seen in our league is different than the league that he was at. I think physically he was just kind of adapting over the first two or three weeks, and being able to repeat high-intensity days that come. He's ready. I think he said it at the beginning of this week or maybe last week, it felt like physically he's turned a corner now and he feels like he's up to speed on the physical side of things now. So it's just getting him an opportunity out there so that we can really see what he can do. We are excited about his prospects. We like what we see in training. He's a guy that's not afraid to get tight on the defensive side. He's got a lot of confidence athletically and a lot of speed and he gets tight defensively. He's not easy to play against. And so that, I look forward to seeing. We are also just trying to settle him in on some of our different rotations when we have possessions so he knows when to shape into a three and things like that and what that looks like. He's ready to go. We're going to try to find him an opportunity here real soon because we think he's going to help us."
On forward Dejan Joveljić’s comeback from injury and progress:
"I think he's had a stop/start sort of year to this point. He came in and he was fit coming into preseason and he gets hurt in the first preseason game. Then he's ready, like the first game of the season, he gets off to a good start. He gets another injury and he's out for a couple weeks. I feel like he's still a guy who is trying to get to like real full season fitness because he's just been stop/start. I said last week the intensity level of his moments were not intense enough. It was just all kind of one speed, and because of it, he didn't really get any chances and didn't have an impact on the game. He was more dynamic today. He was working hard to get to good spots. Obviously he got himself into good spots for chances, the goals. So I think it's strong. He's not a post-up striker. So you know, sometimes we force balls into him, these straight passes into him with guys on his back, and it's not really his game. And when he does get those, he's got to bounce them out real quick and get them off his foot to the next guy and get moving. He's a guy that, you know, if he can keep active and we can get to good spots to cross or to slip him through or things like that, he's going to finish his opportunities. We've also got to play to his strength sometimes. But I think just in terms of his fitness, his sharpness, things like that, I think we're seeing progress now that he's had a couple weeks since coming back from the last injury. He was better tonight than I thought the other night, and was rewarded with two goals."
On relying on forward Gabriel Pec and midfielder Riqui Puig with forward Joseph Paintsil out:
"I think obviously they are playing at a high level. We are getting Gabriel (Pec) involved more and he's getting more dynamic and getting more touches. We're still encouraging him a little bit to keep running ahead of the pass so that he can be playing on the move and not always just at his feet from a standstill position. He's showing what he's capable of doing, and I still I feel like there's so much upside still for him to continue to get at. One of the things I want when he's hitting these curling shots, he's kind of decelerating and hitting them, and they don't have any power. We've been working on him trying to accelerate through the ball, and really, because then I think he'll hit it with more power, and he'll have more chances to finish some of those off where I think the goalkeepers are having an easier time. I think he's got to keep adding those things to his game. Obviously Riqui (Puig) has been playing at a high level, and just his capacity to accelerate is ridiculous, and get through spaces. And guys who are really fast, can't catch them. It's extraordinary to see, and so obviously he's there. I have to give a lot of credit to Diego (Fagundez). I know he doesn't have a lot on the scoreboard, but he does so many little things in our team on the defensive side and positionally and helping us to keep possession and move things to the next spot and he's like such a good systematic player for us that we don't have the speed that Joseph brings to the game and what Joseph brings to the game. Diego is really good at helping the team function, and to make sure that guys get in the right places and for him to have his impact on the game. I think guys are stepping in and stepping up. As you said, Dejan (Joveljić) gets a couple tonight. We've got to keep doing that for at least one more game and then see where we are at after that."
LA GALAXY FORWARD DEJAN JOVELJIĆ
On taking the penalty:
"I took the ball and I think that Maya (Yoshida) came to someone, I think Diego (Fagundez) and he told me that I have to shoot. I thought that I was -- I had to shoot the first penalty as well because I started good and I have some goals in this season but I saw Gabriel (Pec), he already took the ball. I didn't want to take it from him. So yeah, that's it."
On the first goal of the match:
"He did 95 percent of the job. So I had just easy, easy ball. All credits to him."
On his performance this season thus far:
"It's very satisfied (satisfying), but I'm more happy because we won again at home and I think finally we are going to win three games in a row. I think it's perfect time before the summer break, and then after that, we play also two games at home. So we have the three points. We have to continue like this. We know what is our goal, playoff, and chance to get -- to lift the trophy."
On trying to win three in a row:
"We would like to win four, five games in a row, but first we have to win three and then we'll see."
On being at the midway point of the season:
"I think I don't know how other teams played this night, so I think we are in second place. So it's good but can be better. So yeah, in the playoffs, I would like to start first game at home. So that means we have to be in top four teams but of course our top goal is to be first."
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER RIQUI PUIG
On his hair color:
"It's better. The color is better. It's a process. No, I wanted to change it a little bit, 24 years with the same hair, the same color. Good news [is] coming, like I said, on Saturday, and that's it. I'm really happy to be here."
On second half of tonight's game:
"Dallas is a team that plays really good. They have the two pivots that they always have the ball, like Houston. At the first half, we manage really good. But I think the second half we go more direct and I think that's the point that we give the three points, and we play really well the second half."
On two wins in a row and momentum:
"Yeah, we come from a week that we go to Minnesota and Charlotte, and also, it's difficult for us when we are like all the week out and we play two games away. But I think for us and for all the staff and the team, playing two games at home, it's really important, and also to get the six points. And now we go to Chicago with another mentality, and I think that we need to make the nine points."
