COLUMBUS (April 22, 2026) – The LA Galaxy (2-4-3, 9 points) fell just short of erasing a two-goal deficit in a 2-1 loss to Eastern Conference side Columbus Crew (2-4-3, 9 points) at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field in Columbus, Ohio. LA’s Gabriel Pec combined with Joseph Paintsil for his first MLS goal of the campaign late in the second half to bring the Galaxy within one, but it was not enough for a fourth-consecutive result away from home.
LA Galaxy forward João Klauss is set to undergo surgery on Friday after suffering a foot injury in the club’s previous match against FC Dallas on April 18. Klauss is expected to remain out until after the upcoming World Cup break.
Goalscoring Plays
COL – Dániel Gazdag (Hugo Picard), 40th minute: Columbus regained possession in LA’s half before Picard played a low cross from the left wing into the box, where Gazdag finished at the front-post to give the hosts a 1–0 lead.
COL – Diego Rossi (Max Arfsten), 47th minute: Rossi played Arfsten down the right wing, who dribbled into the box and cut the ball back to Rossi centrally. The Uruguayan finished to double the hosts’ lead.
LA – Gabriel Pec (Joseph Paintsil), 86th minute: Emiro Garcés drove deep into Columbus’ half before finding Paintsil near the top of the box, who then turned and threaded the ball ahead of Pec into the box. With his first touch, Pec tucked the ball inside the near post and into the back of the net from the corner of the six-yard box.
Postgame Notes
- Brazilian forward Gabriel Pec opened his 2026 MLS Regular Season goalscoring account late in the second half, his seventh goal of the campaign across all competitions and 11th goal contribution overall.
- Joseph Paintsil recorded his third goal contribution in the last two matches (101 minutes) since returning from injury, combining with Pec late in the second half.
- 19-year-old LA Galaxy forward Ruben Ramos Jr. earned his first start of the 2026 campaign in the match, the second start of his Galaxy career overall.
- The LA Galaxy extended their scoring streak to 18 consecutive matches with Gabriel Pec’s 86th minute goal, the longest active scoring streak in MLS.
Next Up
The LA Galaxy return home for a primetime Sunday Night Soccer matchup against Real Salt Lake on April 26 (4 p.m. PT, Apple TV) on a special night at Dignity Health Sports Park that kicks off with a statue unveil ceremony to honor club legend Cobi Jones.
Match Information
Match: LA Galaxy at Columbus Crew
Date: April 22, 2026
Venue: ScottsMiracle-Gro Field; Columbus, Ohio
Weather: Cloudy and 68°F
CLB: Dániel Gazdag (Hugo Picard), 40’
CLB: Diego Rossi (Max Arfsten), 47’
LA: Gabriel Pec, (Joseph Paintsil), 86’
Lineups
LA Galaxy: GK JT Marcinkowski; D Julián Aude (John Nelson, 22’), D Maya Yoshida (Emiro Garcés, 62’), D Justin Haak, D Miki Yamane; M Edwin Cerrillo (Isaiah Parente, 77’), M Elijah Wynder (Joseph Paintsil, 62’), M Lucas Sanabria; F Ruben Ramos Jr. (Harbor Miller, 62’), F Gabriel Pec, F Marco Reus
Substitutes not used: Novak Mićović, Chris Rindov, Maurico Cuevas, Troy Elgersma
Columbus Crew GK Patrick Schulte; D Malte Amundsen, D Rudy Camacho, D Sean Zawadzki (C), D Steven Moreira; M Dylan Chambost, M Taha Habroune, M Max Arfsten, M Hugo Picard (Andres Herrera, 73’); F Dániel Gazdag (Sekou Bangoura, 73’), F Diego Rossi (Jamal Thiare, 88’)
Substitutes not used: Nicholas Hagen; Cesar Ruvalcaba, Amar Sejdic, Yevhen Cheberko, Owen Presthus, Nariman Akhundzada
Stats Summary
|
CLB
|
LA
|
Shots
|
14
|
7
|
Shots on Goal
|
4
|
1
|
Saves
|
0
|
2
|
Corner Kicks
|
4
|
1
|
Fouls
|
13
|
5
|
Offsides
|
1
|
2
|
Possession
|
55.7%
|
44.3%
|
Misconduct Summary
LA: Gabriel Pec (caution) 45+5’
Officials
Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Assistant Referees: Walt Heatherly, Diego Blas
Fourth Official: Chris Penso
VAR: Shawn Tehini
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
LA Galaxy Postgame Top Quotes
LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney
On the difficulties the Galaxy faced in the match:
“It was simple, they were moving faster around the field than we were. They were moving in numbers, staying connected, closing things up, so there always felt like there was density whenever we were trying to get into the midfield. We need to show up for each other a little quicker. We need to be there. We have to match the intensity and speed of the pressing team. Today, I felt like we were behind it. We were reactive instead of anticipating. At times when we did break it, or had an opportunity to, we would just miss a pass. When Joe [Paintsil] comes in, it changes the speed of our attack and now we have a threat in many different layers that we didn’t have at the first part of the game. They were just releasing the press on us, and we were having a hard time establishing possession. I just felt like they moved around the field as a unit better than we did, and whenever you allow that, you are going to be outnumbered in a lot of different plays and in a lot of different parts of the field. That was my message. There’s times when we’re walking and need to be jogging, times when we’re jogging and need to be sprinting. We need to increase our intensity level and speed, especially in a game when a team is aggressive to press like that. We have to be able to move faster, anticipate more, and be cleaner under pressure in certain situations. And when we did break their press early on, we just didn’t have enough of a threat for them to be too mindful of how many guys they were sending to press us.”
On tonight's lineup:
“When we’re playing with a false nine, and it's not like we have a lot of nine options, it’s either Reus or Ruben [Ramos Jr.]. We have to be mindful of Joe [Paintsil], Joe hasn’t played a lot of games. It’s three in the week and we finish with a home game. He was never going to go more than the 30-35 minutes that we could get him out there. So not having Joe as a nine meant that we only had a couple of real options. So then it’s about how do you try to create overloads, how do you get guys around and working off of Marco [Reus], and part of the issue is we never were able to settle into possession. Things are happening pretty fast and guys are going down to try to help the build which means we’re farther and farther away from Marco. As we shifted and built in a three, it started to give us a little bit of something at the beginning. But again, if we’re not moving at the tempo and speed of the opposition, we could set up a lot of different ways and we’re going to have trouble. We’ve got to make sure that the intensity levels match between the two teams and that the numbers are moving around. Again, it’s a combination of things and choosing our lineup, sometimes it's not always exactly how I want to draw it up, it’s what we have, but that’s on me, it’s not on anyone else. We just had to work through it in the game.”
On Paintsil’s status:
“He came off good [in Dallas]. The issue is coming back from a hamstring injury in which you’ve been out for four to five weeks. The medical side doesn’t want a player playing 70 and then more than 45 or 50. It’s a progression back into playing and knowing that this is a three-game week, Joe [Paintsil] was restricted to the second half and 30. I tried to push it to 35 or so just to give us a little bit more because I felt like we needed it. But there’s still going to be a little bit of precaution in the situation. The third game on the week is also at home so it’s trying to mindful of it. You’re going to see similar types of stuff when Jakob [Glesnes] is coming back because these are longer term injuries, not injuries where guys are out for a week or two. They don’t have a lot of training time because the games are also coming fast so unfortunately, we have to use the games to build up their fitness and their durability.”
LA Galaxy Forward Ruben Ramos Jr.
On Head Coach Greg Vanney’s commitment to the LA Galaxy Academy pipeline:
“When I was in the Academy, Greg was always at our games, and he was always watching. It's great that he's pushing me and Harbor [Miller] who came from the academy. Pushing [us], getting us minutes. It's amazing that he's trying to push people from the academy. Academy products. It's good for the Galaxy, because there's very young, talented academy players coming up, and it's given us an opportunity. It just means a lot to us, coming up through the ranks and getting to the first team and getting minutes and realizing we can [contribute] to his game [plans].”
On stepping up while other players are out injured:
“Obviously the injuries are unfortunate, one after another, but whoever's next man up has to be ready for the opportunity and just have a great mentality to go into the games, get points, and play strong for the team. Because injuries are like that, we just have to have a second man up [mentality] and just be mentally prepared.”
On which veteran players give him advice as a young player:
“I really enjoy talking with Marco [Reus], Klauss, and Gabi [Pec], all those guys. They're all great teammates to me. They always give me information. I always look up to them.
Klauss just joined, and we have a great relationship. He helps me a lot. Same with Gabi, he helps me a lot, too. And I just really look forward to learning from them, because they have the experience, obviously, and getting information from them means a lot. They find ways that I can improve my game, so I really enjoy being around them.”
