LOS ANGELES (Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024) – Playing the second of two matches in the span of four days, the LA Galaxy earned a 4-2 victory against Vancouver Whitecaps FC before a sellout crowd of 25,387 fans at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday Night. Joseph Paintsil, Riqui Puig and Gabriel Pec each recorded goals as LA extended its lead atop the Western Conference standings to seven points ahead of second-place Real Salt Lake.
History Making Galaxy
The Galaxy are the first team in MLS history with four players to have scored 10 or more goals in the same season (Dejan Joveljić: 14 goals, 5 assists; Joseph Paintsil: 10 goals, 10 assists; Gabriel Pec: 13 goals, 12 assists; Riqui Puig: 11 goals, 14 assists). The 2024 LA Galaxy are just the second team in MLS history to have three players record 10 plus goals and 10 plus assists in the same season, joining the 1998 Los Angeles Galaxy (Mauricio Cienfuegos: 13 goals, 16 assists; Cobi Jones: 19 goals, 13 assists; Welton: 17 goals, 11 assists). Additionally, Paintsil and Pec are the first-ever pair of teammates to record 10 plus goals and 10 plus assists in their inaugural season in MLS.
LA Remains Unbeaten At Dignity Health Sports Park
In 15 matches played at Dignity Health Sports Park during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy hold an unbeaten record of 12-0-3 (40 GF; 22 GA). Notably, the Galaxy have won 10 consecutive league matches played at Dignity Health Sports Park (10-0-0) dating back to May 25, outscoring their opponents 29-13 during that span. In 16 games played at home (14 starts) (Dignity Health Sports Park & Rose Bowl Stadium) during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, Pec has totaled 20 goal contributions (10 goals, 10 assists).
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Goal-Scoring Plays*
LA – Gabriel Pec, 32nd minute: Gabriel Pec was first to a loose ball inside the box and his shot from the right side of the penalty area was deflected past Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka at the far post.
LA – Own Goal (Sebastian Berhalter), 50th minute: Gabriel Pec was released down the right side of the penalty area by Riqui Puig. Pec’s ensuing centering pass across the face of goal was then knocked in by Sebastian Berhalter.
VAN – Brian White (Sebastian Berhalter, Ryan Gauld), 63rd minute: A floated cross towards the left side of the box was knocked down by Sebastian Berhalter and was finished from close range by Brian White.
LA – Joseph Paintsil (Sebastian Berhalter), 50th minute: In transition, Riqui Puig delivered an outside the boot pass that Gabriel Pec latched onto down the right flank. Pec cut inside the penalty area and
squared a ball across the six-yard box that Joseph Paintsil converted from point-blank-range.
LA – Riqui Puig (Gabriel Pec), 90+3rd minute: Riqui Puig received a pass from Gabriel Pec at the top of the box, took a touch and then laced his shot past Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka at the near post.
VAN – Sam Adekugbe (Ryan Gauld), 90+6 minute: Ryan Gauld’s in-swinging corner-kick delivery towards the top of the six-yard box was headed in by Sam Adekugbe at the near post.
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Postgame Notes*
- Through 31 matches played during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy hold a 17-7-7 record (59 GF, 44 GA; 58 points) and sit in first place in the Western Conference standings, seven points ahead of second-place Real Salt Lake (14-7-9; 51 points).
- Saturday’s match marked the 36th meeting across all competitions between the Galaxy and Whitecaps FC, with LA leading the all-time series 17-12-7.
- Against Vancouver, the Galaxy hold a 16-11-7 record in league play, a 0-1-0 record in Leagues Cup action and a 1-0-0 record in the MLS Cup Playoffs. In 18 all-time matches played at home against Vancouver, LA holds a 11-4-3 record.
- LA holds a record of 5-2-0 (19 GF, 14 GA) in seven league matches played dating back to July 17.
- In 15 matches played at Dignity Health Sports Park during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy hold an unbeaten record of 12-0-3 (40 GF; 22 GA).
- Notably, the Galaxy have won 10 consecutive league matches played at Dignity Health Sports Park (10-0-0) dating back to May 25, outscoring their opponents 29-13 during that span.
- LA has recorded three or more goals 12 times during the 2024 MLS Regular Season.
- The Galaxy are the first team in MLS history with four players to have scored 10 or more goals in the same season (Dejan Joveljić: 14 goals, 5 assists; Joseph Paintsil: 10 goals, 10 assists; Gabriel Pec: 13 goals, 12 assists; Riqui Puig: 11 goals, 14 assists).
- The 2024 LA Galaxy are just the second team in MLS history to have three players record 10 plus goals and 10 plus assists in the same season (Joseph Paintsil: 10 goals, 10 assists; Gabriel Pec: 13 goals, 12 assists; Riqui Puig: 11 goals, 14 assists), joining the 1998 Los Angeles Galaxy (Mauricio Cienfuegos: 13 goals, 16 assists; Cobi Jones: 19 goals, 13 assists; Welton: 17 goals, 11 assists).
- Paintsil and Pec are the first-ever pair of teammates to record 10 plus goals and 10 plus assists in their inaugural season in MLS.
- Puig has recorded a goal or an assist (8 goals, 9 assists) in 12 consecutive regular-season matches played at Dignity Health Sports Park dating back to March 30, 2024.
- In 16 games played at home (14 starts) (Dignity Health Sports Park & Rose Bowl Stadium) during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, Gabriel Pec has totaled 20 goal contributions (10 goals, 10 assists).
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Next Game
Next up, the LA Galaxy travel to face the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Wednesday, Oct. 2 (6:30 p.m. PT, MLS Season Pass).
2024 MLS Regular Season
LA Galaxy (17-7-7, 58 pts) vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (13-9-7, 46 pts)*
Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024 – Dignity Health Sports Park (Los Angeles)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
LA Galaxy 1 3 4
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0 2 2
Scoring Summary:
LA: Pec, 32
LA: Own Goal (Berhalter, 50
VAN: White (Berhalter, Gauld), 63
LA: Paintsil (Pec, Puig), 69
LA: Puig (Pec), 90+3
VAN: Adekugbe (Gauld), 90+6
Misconduct Summary:
VAN: Berhalter (caution), 7
VAN: Armstrong (caution), 86
VAN: Vite (caution), 88
Lineups:
LA: GK John McCarthy; D Miki Yamane, D Emiro Garces, D Maya Yoshida ©, D John Nelson (Mauricio Cuevas, 83); M Edwin Cerrillo (Gastón Brugman, 83), M Riqui Puig, M Marco Reus (Mark Delgado, 66), M Joseph Paintsil (Diego Fagundez, 77), M Gabriel Pec, F Dejan Joveljić (Miguel Berry, 82)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Novak Mićović; D Julián Aude, D Jalen Neal, D Eriq Zavaleta
TOTAL SHOTS: 15 (Gabriel Pec, Riqui Puig, 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Gabriel Pec, 4); FOULS: 6 (Six players tied, 1); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 0
VAN: GK Yohei Takaoka; D Ranko Veselinovic ©, D Tristan Blackmon, D Belal Halbouni; M Mathias Laborda (Ryan Gauld, 45), M Alessandro Schopf, M Ralph Priso (Pedro Vite, 45), M Sebastian Berhalter, M Edier Ocampo (Sam Adekugbe, 66); F Brian White (Fafa Picault, 77), F Levonte Johnson (Stuart Armstrong, 65)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Isaac Boehmer; D Bjorn Utvik, M Ryan Raposo, F Damir Kreilach
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Belal Halbouni, Brian White, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Brian White, Sam Adekugbe, 1); FOULS: 8 (Pedro Vite, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 12; SAVES: 5
Referee: Jair Marrufo
Assistant Referees: Chris Wattam, Eduardo Jeff
Fourth Official: Ramy Touchan
VAR: Sorin Stoica
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 67 degrees
Attendance: 25,387
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY
On team discussion following match against Portland:
"Our discussion this week coming out of Portland was, I felt like the first half was one of our poorer halves of the year. I feel like in Portland that we just were very careless with the ball against a team that's very good in the transition. And you know, we were forcing things. We were impatient. Jamming things into different areas and we just got ourselves on the wrong side of that game pretty fast. We tried to dig ourselves out and we didn't and that game is history. Tonight you turn around in only a couple days and so there's only so much you can really get through. Some of it was trying to find our balance between being patient and inviting teams to come defend us and then play forward versus just forcing games into teams that sometimes are sitting in a little lower block losing the balls in the middle of the field and then teams coming at us. There was a little bit of finding the right testimony toe inside the game, choosing to play the game in the right spot. I thought even in the first half, at the beginning of the game, I don't think we were finding the right solutions early in the game and then as we started to get a little closer together, then the ball started to move a little faster. They started to want to close us down and then spaces that we wanted to attack into started to open up a little bit more. I don't know if I would say careless or carefree in some of our attacking actions that probably should have finished in the first half where we make an extra pass that maybe we don't need and we need to be a little bit more selfish. Sometimes we don't execute on the pass. I felt like we left a lot on the table in the course of the night that keeps an opponent in the game and it makes the game tough. We got through it tonight, and always the third game in a busy week, you've got to do what you've got to do in some ways. But for us, a lot of the discussion is trying to continue to set a championship-type of behavior. I think when we are talking about closing out games, when you have a goal-lead or a two-goal lead making sure that we are making championship decisions because we're going to have to when it really get down to it and I think we need to be thinking about it that way now. Sometimes we cheat the defensive moment. We wait for the transition and then we score and so it looks like it's okay but it's not okay. So those are things we've got to tighten up."
On whether or not he thinks some of his players are too unselfish at certain moments:
"I think sometimes it's not a bad thing. I think sometimes the unselfishness is that we are trying to make a more perfect moment to finish, you know. I think there was a couple guys who had chances and I know who they are, it doesn't matter, but we had a chance to take a little bit of risk at top speed because the ball is there and then we take a touch try to make it a little more cleaner, a little more perfect. The defender recovers. The goalkeeper gets set. Things like that happen. And sometimes, you know, sometimes the chance doesn't have to be perfect. You just have to take it at speed and the goalkeeper is not ready, the defenders can't recover and things work out for you. We scored four goals tonight but we are talking about some things we left on the table which is how many good attacks and promising attacks we had through the course of the night as well. The frustrating piece is we gave up goals, two goals in ways that we knew they would attack which is just hanging up these balls at the back post and things like that. We didn't deal with them in the way we need to. Third game in seven days, three points, put ourselves even farther ahead now or reestablish our distance, if I heard correctly in the West. I'm not upset with it. I'm just really trying focus us in on that concept of like it's not just about tonight but it's about championship behaviors and decisions and actions. Because we love to attack, you know. You see."
On Marco Reus' scoring opportunities:
"He makes his decisions on the field. He's a top player. He goes with what he feels is the best solution in the moment. There's probably one or two in, there I would have liked to see him go for it, but I also think that's who he is as a player. He plays for his teammates. He plays a very unselfish, team-oriented game and I think he takes some joy in setting up his teammates and watching them score. I think he'll find his balance and as things go, he'll be fine with all that. I'm not too concerned about him."
On Emiro Garces:
"You saw when we've been talking about with him. His physical quality is just so good. His quickness, speed, his strength in the duel but also how quickly he can recover to things. Sometimes even when balls are kind of hanging out there and there are sort of second balls, how quickly he pounces on those second balls and what might become something just doesn't; he just cleaned it up. I was really happy for him tonight because he's had a hard time getting to full fitness with little setbacks, with different things that have gone on as he's been settling in. So for him to get his first 90 minutes since he's arrived, not just for us, but like even with the second team, everything, tonight was his first 90 minutes, I thought without stating comfortable in many ways, and I was happy with his decisions on the ball, and I was happy with his defending efforts. I was really pleased. He's going to help us. We need him to step up because he does bring something different to our back group."
On Marco Reus' potential injury:
"I don't know exactly. He said that he was just starting to feel something and he didn't want to keep pushing it, and so whatever hopefully he just started feeling tight again, it's the third game this week, he didn't play a ton in the midweek game. But third game, hopefully he just started to feel himself tighten up a little bit, and it's nothing that these next ten days can't recover from. So we'll see. I don't know exactly. So I know he was talking with everybody in there."
On Marco Reus start tonight:
"Smart. Clever. Again, how he's finding pockets in passing lanes underneath and in between the midfield line and back line. He's intelligent about his movements. There's times where, again, they play a back three so he makes a darting run between these two, it narrows them up and now we are putting Gabe (Gabriel Pec) on the ball. He's out there and he's playing the game against kind of the opposition and working against them, which is fun to watch because he's such a smart player, soft feet, very good in his decisions. I think sometimes when we get going really fast and this and this, it's not so suitable for him all the time. I think when we can be a little bit more controlled and choose the right moments to transition fast but, not let the game just get end-to-end like some MLS games can get because I don't think that's going to be in his favor sometimes. But again, I can't say enough about how much of a team guy he is and how he's just kind of fit into this group and helped the other guys."
On scoreboard watching:
"No. Because I was too focused on trying to organize a few things from the first half so the first half. I didn't even think to take a look. I was just as I was walking, hear that it ended 3-3 in Salt Lake. That's great for us. Any cushion we'll take at this point. We have two on the road obviously and one at home. So we've got a tough finish in the season and we'll take anything that we can get to try to finish on top. I think that's big. You can see at this time of year, just some teams are just fighting for their lives. Teams are in good spots. Some teams are not in good spots. You want to keep it smooth down the stretch."
On Joseph Paintsil's goal in the 69th minute and the LA Galaxy becoming the first team in MLS history with four players who have scored 10+ goals in the same season:
"As we started to put the team together and looking at the characteristics of the group, I'm not totally surprised. You know, when the group hits form and starts hitting speed, I think that capacity, and as you said, some of the unselfish nature of the group at times in actions, I think that bodes well for us. Because if you have multiple game winners, guys who can get it done, that's hard to defend against. If it's one guy, then you can organize that a little bit. If it's multiple guys, it's really tough to defend against. I still think the group is continuing to, in some ways, just scratch the surface of their relationships. And adding a guy like Marco (Reus) who can create great, great situations for himself; and guys like Diego (Fagundez) who has had a great season. We still have a lot of guys, whether those four guys or others, we still have guys who can impact the game, which is fantastic. We have a lot of attacking quality in the group which I think makes the games entertaining. Too many of them are 4-2, though. I would prefer if they were 4-0."
On potentially tying the franchise points record:
"A lot of credit to our guys because when he haven't had great games and got bad results, we've bounced back quickly. I think that's important for our group in showing some resiliency after every single time we've had a lot this year, we've come back with a win. That says a lot because momentum is so important. What does that mean for us ultimately? I think it's great. I think again it shows that we've had consistency throughout the season but I think the measure for our group is going to be the capacity to compete in the playoffs to show that maturity and to keep trying to build to that legacy for this group, is and it's not just the regular season. Not to minimize it because I think it's big. I think it's also us learning as a group how that we can become a championship type of team. Some of those teams won championships, and so that's the next step for are for us is graduating from being a good in-season team to now being that step to being a championship type of team, and that's what we are wishing for here as we get down the stretch; and even some of these games, our decisions, some of our actions are just making sure that's how we set our behaviors as we get to this final stretch."
On developing a championship-winning mentality:
"For sure. Sometimes we just make defensive mistakes. I felt like we have done our fair share of making defensive mistakes in situations that we should be able to deal with duels better, deal with situations better. Sometimes I think we get so comfortable in our ability to attack and go create chances and go score goals. And we love that part of the game that when the game feels like we are in total control and when there's goals out there for us, we start thinking about how we can get those goals and not necessarily how we close this out and make sure that we give up nothing or if it's one, we give up one. At times, we trade defending for the opportunity to go attack again and that's what I'm talking about because if you get into playoff games, knock-out games, again, the teams that win championships are the teams that can put zeros up or give away not very much. I just want us to continue to push and challenge ourselves to stay focused on that side of things and commit to that side of things because I know the other side of it, we're going to create opportunities and we're going to find our chances to score goals. It's finding a balance because certainly because of the way we can attack, it puts the opposition on their heels as well but we've just got to make sure that we stay stingy about protecting our goal at all times."
On Gabriel Pec adapting to MLS:
"When Gabriel first came, what he was used to being is a guy who stays on the sideline, the team gets him the ball and he goes one-on-one against the opposition. And what we've tried to encourage him to do so to be on the line, but how to stay connected to the team, find the ball in different areas, get himself more touches, more involved, and to work in partnerships and relationships with other guys. And not just be a one-on-one guy on the wing. When this guy clears a space, boom, you're coming inside. If the fullback is coming around you, you're taking up a more narrow position so we can find you here or there. I think because he's continued to adapt with that, he's gotten a lot more touches and he's gotten touches in better positions. He's now in two-versus-one situations instead of always one-versus-one situations, which is even better for him. I think he has continued to evolve which is what I had hoped. He can still go one-on-one but he's added sort of more options to his game in my opinion because he's now working within a system and with other guys to create more scenarios where he can continue to be dangerous. If I add one thing that I still want him to continue to do is to execute at top speed. Sometimes he gets himself into really good positions and he decelerates a little bit because he's trying to hit the perfect finish instead of staying at top speed and trusting his technique and finishing at top speed. So things don't get blocked and he puts power into some of these things. These are nuances, and when he gets them, he's going to be so difficult to deal with, which he already is. Can he be Newcomer of the Year? Sure. I think he's evolved since he's been here, and he's certainly been very influential for our team and has had a very good season. Usually those things are what comes together. Your team has to play well and your team has to be successful and then you have to have a player who is impactful, and then when you can do that, that put yourself in that conversation for sure."
LA GALAXY FORWARD JOSEPH PAINTSIL
On moving forward after Wednesday's match against Portland:
"Turning our mindset to this game was really important. The last Wednesday game was really a game that we wanted to win but it was not possible based on our mistakes everything and but that's football. We need to keep our hopes high and we just bounced back today. It's really important for the supporters and as you can see, we haven't lost any single game at home. We need to keep this kind of mentality towards all the games that is really ahead of us, especially the next away game. It's also really important for us to take some points there and then come back home and show whatever we have to show as we have always been doing in the first season we started this league. I think our mentality is really strong even though we were a little bit discouraged on Wednesday, but as you can see we just put it aside and focus on this game because this game also decides, also, and give us the hope of winning the conference, winning our stage of the league. It's really an amazing comeback from the team, the technical team and everyone and everyone did a great job."
On improvements team can make heading into the playoffs:
"I think we are already doing great. The only thing we need to be better is trying to defend what we have scored. If we scored in the first half, we need to try to defend and score more but it happens, even the greatest clubs in history also concede goals and make it difficult for themselves. But we are in a position that we contain everything around by making our mentality of winning the trophy. That is what we have made our mind now but as we keep learning as football players, we still have to learn and just keep the focus and just keep believing and just keep believing in each other. I think even though we make mistakes, the most important thing is to win and when we win, we always have the three points and the three points always puts us in a good direction."
On his goal and the LA Galaxy becoming the first team in MLS history with four players who have scored 10+ goals in the same season:
"I think kudos to the technical team. Kudos to everyone involved bringing us together as a team. We didn't do it together, even though it was me, Riqui (Puig) and the rest. We did it as a team. It's really an amazing thing that the four of us have ten plus goals, it's a plus for us and for the team. It will also give us the confidence to do extra more and to also write our name in the history book of L.A. Galaxy at the end of the season. That's what we always are trying to make it manifest and let it happen. Everyone wants to write his name in the book of L.A. Galaxy at the end of this season."
