FRISCO (April 18, 2026) – The LA Galaxy (2-3-3, 9 points) drew 2-2 against FC Dallas (3-1-2, 13 points) at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. LA battled back from an early 2-0 deficit behind goals from midfielder Lucas Sanabria and forward Joseph Paintsil to earn a hard-fought point away from home. Paintsil scored his first MLS goal of the campaign, and the Galaxy extended their league-best scoring streak to 17 consecutive matches.
Goalscoring Plays
DAL – Petar Musa, 7th minute: Musa latched onto a giveaway in the Galaxy's half to find himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, scoring with a right-footed shot to give Dallas the early lead.
DAL – Petar Musa (Chris Cappis), 38th minute: Dallas worked the ball down the left side with Cappis squaring a low cross into the box which found Musa who slid and tapped it in to double the lead for the hosts.
LA – Lucas Sanabria (Joseph Paintsil), 43rd minute: A Galaxy attack down the left side ended with Paintsil feeding Sanabria, who took a touch and fired a shot into the bottom corner at the near post to halve the deficit.
LA – Joseph Paintsil (Gabriel Pec), 45+3’: In first half stoppage time, Pec slipped a pass through the FC Dallas back line and into the box to Paintsil, who then smashed the ball into the back of the net with his first touch to level the match.
Postgame Notes
- LA Galaxy forward Joseph Paintsil scored his first league goal of the season and assisted another in his return to Greg Vanney’s starting XI for the first time since suffering an injury against Colorado on March 7. He missed the club’s previous seven matches before making a substitute appearance earlier in the week.
- The LA Galaxy extended their scoring streak to 17 consecutive matches with Lucas Sanabria’s first half strike, the longest active scoring streak in MLS.
- Including his assist tonight, Gabriel Pec leads the LA Galaxy in goal contributions in all competitions with nine (João Klauss 8, Marco Reus 7).
Next Up
The LA Galaxy continue their road trip to Ohio for an interconference battle against Columbus Crew on Wednesday, April 22 (4:30 p.m. PT, Apple TV) at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field. From there, the G’s return home to take on Real Salt Lake on Sunday, April 26 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 FC Dallas
Date: April 18, 2026
Venue: Toyota Stadium; Frisco, Texas
Weather: Cloudy and 60°F
Scoring Summary
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1
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2
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F
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FC Dallas
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2
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0
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2
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LA Galaxy
|
2
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0
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2
|
DAL: Petar Musa, 7’
DAL: Petar Musa, (Chris Cappis), 38’
LA: Lucas Sanabria (Joseph Paintsil), 43’
LA: Joseph Paintsil (Gabriel Pec), 45+3’
Lineups
LA Galaxy: GK JT Marcinkowski; D John Nelson, D Maya Yoshida, D Emiro Garcés (Elijah Wynder, 80’), D Mauricio Cuevas; M Edwin Cerrillo, M Justin Haak, M Lucas Sanabria; F Joseph Paintsil (Harbor Miller, 73’), F Gabriel Pec, F João Klauss (Marco Reus, 54’)
Substitutes not used: Novak Mićović, Chris Rindov, Julián Aude, Miki Yamane, Isaiah Parente, Ruben Ramos Jr.
FC Dallas: GK Michael Collodi; D Osaze Urhoghide, D Louis Deedson (Ran Binyamin, 81’), D Shaq Moore, D Sebastien Ibeagha (Nolan Norris, 81’); M Christian Cappis, M Kaick Ferreira, M Herman Johansson (Samuel Sarver, 90+2’), M Joaquin Valiente (Nick Simmonds, 90+2’); F Petar Musa, F Logan Farrington (Santiago Moreno, 66’)
Substitutes not used: Jonathan Sirois, Lalas Abubakar, Patrickson Delgado, Caleb Swann
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Misconduct Summary
DAL: Sebastien Ibeagha (caution) 28’
DAL: Herman Johansson (caution) 83’
Officials
Referee: Marcos DeOliveira II
Assistant Referees: Adam Wienckowski, Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
Fourth Official: Elvis Osmanovic
VAR: Lukasz Szpaia
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
LA Galaxy Postgame Top Quotes
LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney
On the mentality of the team to battle back for the draw:
“This team is good and this team believes in each other. They believe in the process and what we’re doing, so I think that’s what you’re seeing. You come back in games like that because you believe in what we’re doing. I needed to adjust to provide them with a little bit of a solution, and they were able to take the solution and solve the problems in the game and score the goals. Some of it was me giving them the right structure, and some of it was those guys just continuing to be the players that they are and with the mentality that they need. This group believes in themselves. They know now with the sole focus being on MLS, we’ve got a busy travel schedule this month, but this group is ready to climb the table. We’re ready to get results on the road and we want to change our home form. We’re ready and the group believes in it. You see that Joe [Paintsil] makes a huge difference. The chances that Joe gets with his quality and velocity, speed, things like that, it changes the group. Get Jakob [Glesnes] back, try to get guys healthy. Unfortunately, I feel like we lose one a game, but hopefully we can get on the other side of that. But this group believes in the process and they believe in each other. They know what we’ve been through at the beginning of the year, and they know what we are capable of achieving through the season.”
On the team moving in the right direction:
“We’ve played three road games and have taken five points out of those three. We would have liked to take more in Portland but in this one we battled back and showed resiliency. If we show we can do this stuff on the road and then we sort out our home form, we’re going to be in a great spot. Again, the response was really good. One of the things I really wanted to come out of this trip was healthy, as we duel for points. We want to come back healthy and give ourselves a chance to really hit a reset button with everybody to put the team in a structure that I really think will be best for us. Hopefully we can keep moving in that direction. Hopefully João’s injury is not serious, hopefully its days and not weeks. Obviously with Joe [Paintsil] back its keep building him up to 90 minutes fitness and as we start to get Jakob [Glesnes] back and so on and so forth, we start to look our best piece. You can’t forget Jakob has been one of the best defenders in the league, he is going to help us on that side of things. And Joe is one of the most dangerous attacking players in the league so these two guys are going to help our team and the focus now is all on MLS. I think everybody believes that we can continue this momentum. We’ve got a tough stretch because we play five out of our next seven on the road or something like that, so we’ve got to be road warriors during this time too and take points.”
On Lucas Sanabria:
“I think what he brings for us that we need is that dueling combativeness. I feel like we sometimes lose more duels than we should in the middle of the field and teams get on the other side of us when they shouldn’t. Him working in there gives us another combative guy that can help Eddie [Cerrillo]. I thought Justin [Haak] did a good job too today of winning some of his duels and moments. But yeah, we need his combativeness. We need somebody who can help be an enforcer in the midfield. Also just the running that he’s able to do and the dueling that he’s able to do brings another sort of element to our midfield that we don’t consistently have if he isn’t out there. I think that’s something that Elijah [Wynder] needs to keep adding to his game as well. Obviously, Eddie helps us to play, but I think he needs to also win a few more duels. So, I think what Lucas does is different from the other two and that’s important for us.”
LA Galaxy Forward Joseph Paintsil
On coming back from injury and scoring a goal:
“It's been a rough season for me, getting injury, for almost 6 weeks. This is not something that any footballers want, but it's also part of the game. But being on the score sheet today, it has really made me feel really good. It boosts my energy to also give me more confidence to go to the next game. And, yeah, the team did everything possible to take this one point. I'm just really grateful that I'm still healthy and for getting minutes in this game against Dallas.”
On being an influential player for the team:
“I'm really happy that I can also contribute with my abilities like with my speed. As you can see, even though I was injured I came back and I just kept running. It’s just part of me and I just need to keep going because I think they also need that type of energy in the team. The players were also really happy that I was feeling good and joining the team. I think it helped bring energy within the team that it was not only Gabe [Pec]. The games that we were playing, it was only Gabe, but we have the three DP’s now, I think it’s a whole lot of options now. I can just use my abilities and skills and speed to help the team. I’m just really happy that I am back and re-joining this amazing team with my teammates and doing what we love to do.”
On the rehab process:
“The rehab process was really smooth. I was feeling OK in the fourth week, but there was a little thing that was still annoying me, so I just gave it a little bit, one more week and a few days. Because the most important thing is for me to be healthy and to have no pain so that I can come in and give what I need to give. With my rehab, it was a long rehab, but the physical trainers did really great giving me time to come back stronger with no pain, no reactions, nothing like that. I give them a very big kudos because they really helped me come back quickly and healthy also.”
LA Galaxy Defender John Nelson
On what it meant to get the match level before the halftime break:
“When you go down on the road 2-0, it's not the start you want, but for us to bounce back like that and not give up – we made one switch in formation that I think helped a lot – I think it's everything. To come back, bounce back like that, it’s good momentum going into Columbus as well.”
On the team gaining momentum going into Columbus:
“In 2025 we didn’t get a win on the road. All of last year we struggled on the road, even to maybe grind out points. But for us to come back tonight, down 2-0, and even have a chance in the second half to win it, it’s everything. Credit to the boys. Maybe we made a mistake in the first half that caused the first goal, but credit to the guys. We didn’t give up. We came back; it was for sure growth from last year. I think maybe even last year we would have maybe put our heads down and just kind of gave up unfortunately, but I think this year, the Austin win and now this going into Columbus, it’s everything.”
On Joseph Paintsil:
“It’s great to have Joe back. It’s not easy for him to come back and play 60 or 70 minutes, however long he played tonight. I’m sure he was pushing through it. So really good to have Joe back, especially on my side, I love playing with him. Obviously, he provides a different element to the game with his speed, beating guys one on one. It was good for him to get a goal and be confident. Really good for me on the left side and really good for the team to have him back.”
