Joseph Paintsil completes first hat trick of MLS career ahead of team’s quest to lift 2025 Campeones Cup on Wednesday, October 1
LOS ANGELES (Saturday, September 27, 2025) – On Saturday night, the LA Galaxy defeated Sporting Kansas City 4-1 with an early attack and a first-time MLS career hat trick from forward Joseph Paintsil. Paintsil became the third player in LA Galaxy history to produce a first half hat trick, joining Robbie Keane (May 26, 2013) and Alejandro Moreno (May 19, 2004).
LA Galaxy Against Sporting Kansas City: Saturday’s match was the 83rd meeting across all competitions between the LA Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City (74th in regular season play), with LA leading the all-time series 34-31-18. Against Sporting Kansas City, the Galaxy hold a 29-27-18 record in league play and a 5-3-1 record in the MLS Cup Playoffs. In the now 36 all-time regular season matches played at Dignity Health Sports Park against Kansas City, LA holds an 19-8-9 record. Prior to tonight’s match, the last meeting between the two sides came on May 4, 2025, when Sporting earned a 1-0 home win at Children’s Mercy Park.
Goal-Scoring Plays
LA – Joseph Paintsil (Mauricio Cuevas, Diego Fagundez), 4th minute: After a quick cross from Mauricio Cuevas, Joseph Paintsil got one past the goalkeeper with a right footed shot from the left side of the box.
LA – Joseph Paintsil, 25th minute: Harbor Miller crossed the ball into the six-yard box where Joseph Paintsil met it, after deflections, and took a first-time shot into the back of the net.
SKC – Dejan Joveljić (Mason Toye), 28th minute: After a quick pass up field from Mason Toye, Dejan Joveljić hit a shot from the center of the box to the bottom right corner of the goal.
LA – Joseph Paintsil (Mauricio Cuevas, Gabriel Pec), 33rd minute: Gabriel Pec played a ball through the back line on the right flank to Mauricio Cuevas who crossed the ball in front of a streaking Joseph Paintsil. Paintsil took a right foot shot at the center of the goal for his first MLS hat trick.
LA – Diego Fagundez (Gabriel Pec, Joseph Paintsil), 60th minute: In his 78th career goal, Diego Fagundez got on the end of a short cross by Pec at the top of the six-yard box.
Postgame Notes
- The match marked the 83rd meeting across all competitions between the two teams, with LA leading the all-time series 34-31-18.
- Midfielder Diego Fagundez notched his 78th goal on Saturday night, continuing his march toward the 80/80 club for MLS.
- Through today's game, Diego Fagundez now has 78 goals and 78 assists in 421 career regular season MLS matches.
- Joseph Paintsil recorded the first hat trick of his MLS career.
- Mauricio Cuevas notched two assists in the match against Sporting Kansas City, bringing his goal contributions to 1 goal and 3 assists in the past three regular season matches.
Next Game
As reigning 2024 MLS Cup Champions, the LA Galaxy will next compete for the 2025 Michelob ULTRA Campeones Cup against 2025 LIGA MX Campeon de Campeones winner, Toluca FC, on Wednesday, October 1 (7:30 pm PT) at Dignity Health Sports Park. Following the match on October 1, the Galaxy will travel to face FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium on Saturday, October 4 (1:30 pm PT, MLS Season Pass), in their next match of the 2025 MLS Regular Season.
2025 MLS Regular Season
LA Galaxy (4-9-17, 21 pts) vs. Sporting Kansas City (7-6-18, 27 pts)
Goals by Half
1
2
F
LA Galaxy
3
1
4
Sporting Kansas City
1
0
1
Scoring Summary:
LA: Paintsil (Cuevas), 4
LA: Paintsil, 25
SKC: Joveljić (Toye), 28
LA: Paintsil (Cuevas, Pec), 43
LA: Fagundez (Pec, Paintsil), 60
Misconduct Summary:
SKC: Shapi Suleymanov (ejection), 83
LA: Miki Yamane (caution), 87
LA: Emiro Garcés (caution), 90+1
Lineups:
LA Galaxy Starting XI: GK Novak Mićovic, D John Nelson, D Maya Yoshida(c). D Chris Rindov (D Emiro Garcés, 65), D Mauricio Cuevas (D Miki Yamane, 77), M Harbor Miller (D Julian Aude, 65), M Edwin Cerillo, M Elijah Wynder (M Ruben Ramos Jr., 73), M Diego Fagundez, F Gabriel Pec, F Joseph Paintsil (F Miguel Berry, 65)
Substitutes Not Used: GK JT Marcinkowski, D Zanka, D Eriq Zavaleta, F Tucker Lepley
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistant Referees: Felisha Mariscal, Jeffrey Greeson
Fourth Official: Bhavik Dutt
VAR: Alyssa Pennington
AVAR: TJ Zablocki
Weather: Mostly Clear, 68 degrees
Attendance: 17,903
Additional Time at the Half: 3 minutes
Additional Time: 7 minutes
Total Added Time: 10 minutes
LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES
LA GALAXY ASSISTANT COACH DAN CALICHMAN
On tonight’s added emotion:
“Yeah, there was added emotion. I'm glad we won. Didn't want to have to face Greg in the locker room with a loss. Certainly didn't want to do that. Yeah, it was a lot of fun being there and stepping up and coaching the team. But it's easy, right? Any of the assistant coaches could do the same job. Greg does a great job mentoring us and we spend a lot of time working out on the training field, so the game is the showcase. The work has been done. And yeah, it was nice being out there tonight.”
On how he saw the night developing offensively:
“Probably could have had more than that, but don't need to be greedy. It's great to see Joe scoring goals. Kansas City plays an interesting way. Tactically they send both fullbacks high. That exposes a team. It's no blame on Kansas City. They're a wonderful team. That's just how they play, but it opens them up when they lose the ball. With Joe's speed and Gabe's ability to get wide, it can cause people trouble. I felt like we did a nice job of exposing certain areas when they sent players forward. I thought we did a nice job with that. But guys were on today. Whether it was just typical night that coach was out, I am sure that gave them incentive. They wanted to win for Greg, right, who was watching the game. I think that incentivized them. Watching from up top can see all. You know, they worked hard tonight. They deserved the W.”
On if he noticed anything different from his point of view tonight:
“Kind of more the same. I stood up more. I usually don't stand up as much when I'm the assistant. I stood up and tried to get the team going at times that I felt like we were a little sluggish. That's what Greg does, right? So, yeah, it was different in that way. But, again, I would reiterate that the work has been done already. These guys know what's coming at them. They're prepared. They know what they need to do to be at our best. It reminding them at times that this is what we need to do.”
On Emiro Garces return:
"Rusty, man. He looked awfully rusty to me. Emiro is wonderful. He is wonderful and he is still a young defender, and it's great to have him back. But what he brings is he's tenacious and he has speed that is second to none in this league. So that's what he brings. He's been out with an injury and we're trying to get him back, and hopefully he'll be back for Wednesday. You know, he looked a little rusty. That's just fair.”
On what he would like to see to improve defensively before the team goes into that title:
"I thought in the first half we had a is difficult time dealing with Kansas City straight down the middle. They were kind of playing either Dejan or Mason Toye, right, the other striker. They were just kind of combining right through us. I thought we just got to make sure that our pivots are staying connected with our center backs, that our forwards are staying connected with our pivots and not getting extended, and just be kind of tighter defensively.”
On Mauricio Cuevas’ growth as a person, as a player, and what his next level is:
"Mauricio was not rusty. He was sharp as can be and he has been. He's having a wonderful year, he had a wonderful game. He attacks so beautifully and he has great timing. He can cross a ball as good as anyone in this league. But, yeah, I think you raise a good point as far as better decisions in the final third, finding the guy maybe a little better. What he can improve upon? We all can improve on our group to be better one-on-one defenders and team defenders. There are occasions where sometimes our outside guys Mauricio included can get back-doored with a run. But all in all, Mauricio is coming along beautifully. He's blossoming and he's tenacious. He's a competitive kid and he just wants to be out there and he wants to compete. Again, he was able to find room, right, with Gabe coming inside and Mauricio coming around. That's a difficult combination, especially if you're playing in, let's say, a 4-4-2 and that guy is more of a winger. He doesn't really want to defend. He wants to kind of attack. It's very difficult for the opposition then. Mauricio really hurt them tonight.”
On insight into who he is and what he does:
“My name is Dan Calichman. I was born February 21, 1968. That makes me pretty old. I was around when the Galaxy started in 1996. Rumor has it I was the first captain. I played center back. I have three children. I'm one of the assistant coaches for Greg. Been with Greg since he moved to Toronto. I have been fortunate enough to stay with him when he moved to the Galaxy, you know, that he took me with him. There is no greater pleasure for me to be coaching the Galaxy since this is the club that I first played for. It's a privilege. Every day I go out there and I'm just grateful. I'm grateful. So hopefully you've learned enough about me.”
On if young players performing well opens up some options in terms planning roster decisions for next year:
“Without a doubt. Without a doubt that all comes into play. They've all been doing really well. Harbor has been wonderful. Ruben came in today and played great. Cuevas we talked about already. Emiro Garcés is a young kid, 22, 23 maybe. Like we have some young guys. This group of players is only going to get better. Who else? Yeah, kids coming out of Galaxy 2, right? Some talented players there as well. So I feel like, again, this is Greg's influence. First team, but then making sure that through the academy we're all playing a similar way so when they move from one team to the next it's the same style of play so they don't have to really relearn. They just have to make decisions faster. That's a lot easier than trying to learn new systems a have a million things in your head. You're just trying to play the game faster. The higher you go up, the faster the game gets.”
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY
On serving tonight's suspension:
"It's hard to sit up there and not feel like you have influence, but the view is better. Seeing the game from up there is better than seeing the game from field level. The disconnection is difficult, so I don't want to do this too many more times."
On Joseph Paintsil's early goal:
"I thought it was great to get off to a quick start and get an early goal, set piece. The game was just really back and forth early in the game. Both teams gassed out pretty early for the start and then had to regroup a little bit. The ball was just going through midfield so easily either direction. In the first 15 minutes there wasn't a flow to the game. There was an attack and a series of set pieces, an attack and series of set pieces. But it was good. In a game like today, getting on top of the game early is important. Getting the second one, we could have kept our foot on the gas a little bit more. We had the chance to maybe pick up the third and maybe bury them a little bit earlier. I know when you get to that part of the season and you're not playing for anything and you're on the road and if you can get on top of a team early it can set the tempo. We had some chances. And of course, Dejan Joveljić finds some space facing forward and the classy finish we're all used to seeing from Dejan, just slotted away to the near post; brought them back within one obviously. We were able to pull away. Joe (Joseph Paintsil had some really good looks. I think the one he hit off the post for me was probably the best team attack the entire night. Was a really good action off the right side and the movement was really coordinated and smart. Gabe (Gabriel Pec) slipped him in. It was the cutback one I think. For me it was one of the best attacks all night and we were a little unfortunate not to finish it. It was good to pick up the next goals. Once you get ahead you get up 3-1, 4-1, then now you're managing the game a little bit more. That's a positive. Going back to the beginning of the game when it was open, we could have done a little better job when we broke the pressure and we got deep into their half of the field, if we weren't in such a rush to try to hit the big ball to finish it, because they had two strikers on the field and two pretty attacking wide midfielders or wingers who we didn't really defend much in the early part of the game because we were rushing the attacks, not finishing clean. Then those guys are kind of cheating and hanging out because we weren't forcing them to come back and defend, and that is what was getting the game back and forth. We could have managed it a little bit better so it wasn't quite so open and then forced them to have to defend lower in their half of the field, but we sniffed the opportunity to score goals and we kept going for it. That kind of opened it up a little bit at times."
On where he watched due to tonight's suspension:
"I was in one of the radio booths. I think radio booth 4 which is just behind our bench in one of those boxes. Good view. Almost midfield. Pretty much where I would've been standing, but a lot higher."
On Joseph Paintsil's hat trick:
"I think the spaces that were available for him to run through and attack, some of them in transitions, a couple of his opportunities came off good and organized movements where we were able to find him coming in from an angle in front of the goal. The game was open like that and there is space, it's just going to play into Joe's hands because of his pace and ability to get in behind and see the channels very wide open. I think that's a big part of it. I felt like when we did break lines and get into the forward movement of our attacks, then things started to go pretty fast. Didn't feel like we got bogged down in the top end of our attacks. Felt like we were a little slow at the start of the attacks sometimes, but once we got through the lines I felt like we were going to try to go to goal. We weren't slowing the game down too much. A little more execution in some of those actions and there was a handful of probably more chances and goals for us if we would have been a little cleaner in a few of those."
On missed scoring opportunities for Gabriel Pec:
"Last week we sat down and watched all of his actions, his final actions. Sometimes technically I think he's almost trying to be too perfect with it. Sometimes I think he can go at it with a little more force and not try to be perfect, put a little more on it. I think when he's trying to finish it and curl it so much a little power comes off it and the keeper is able to get across, dive, make a save, things like that. There are some things technically I would love for him to shift a little bit in his final action, but I think we are trying to work through it on the training ground for him to be more aggressive when he goes to that final shot or the final play there. For him a couple more times if he would make a pass and then make the run after the pass towards the goal, I think we would find him a couple more times and finish chances. I think we missed him a couple times as well which probably frustrated him as well. He's got to keep working and we have to keep looking for him. When he does go strike or finish, I would like for him to put more power through the ball and try to be not quite so perfect with it sometimes. There is always a balance there. His technique is good enough that if he hit it a little harder he would make it tougher on the goalkeeper sometimes. That's just my opinion."
On not finishing last:
"Certainly don't want to finish last, but we're definitely focused on our performances, getting some players as many minutes as we can get some of the young guys. It's helping them. The more Harbor plays the more it's benefitting him. Even guys like Mauricio and others. Ruben could have scored a couple goals tonight. He was in a couple really good spots. Elijah, the more games he gets his starting position for next year will be in a better spot as he comes into camp. Trying to balance off continuing to do the things we think are going to help us long-term while we're trying to win the games in the short-term. Dallas' future depends on our games with them, so they're just outside of the playoff picture with two games against us. Then we'll finish with Minnesota, who will be vying for positioning in who they're going to play. There is the head coach, right there. So we got three tough games. Three tough games and we're certainly playing to win them. We also have some long-term things we're trying to focus on as well. Hopefully we get some guys healthy. Nascimento is closer. Marco was in training and decided we had to keep him out. He decided this wasn't the right game. Maybe Wednesday. We had Julián and Emiro back in. Christian is getting closer. Lucas isn't quite as close as the other guys. Hopefully as we get down the stretch those guys will be a little more available to finish it off."
On tonight's red card:
"It was interesting. I was sitting next to one of our members of our staff. I said to him, that one fell into a weird area for me. It could have been a red card and also could have maybe not been a red card. I think the lack of intention to try to play the ball and try to go through somebody who was kind of vulnerable as a they're trying to clear a ball probably pushes it a little bit towards some kind of a red card, but I think when you talk about like real dangerous contact to the legs or something like that, I didn't see a ton of that. So it sat in a position where if you give them a red, it's probably going to stay a red. If you don't, then maybe it doesn't get changed. I thought he definitely was going through his body. He wasn't trying to necessarily block the ball or anything like that. I can understand it, but I understood that it was kind of sitting in that gray area maybe a little bit. I'm pretty sure it wasn't going to change the game though."
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER DIEGO FAGUNDEZ
On as he gets closer to the 80-80 club, what the numbers mean to him:
“Those are just numbers. It's nice to accomplish, but at the end of the day I would rather be playing for a playoff spot. I think it's a frustrating thing to accomplish when the season hasn't been the best. At the end of the day it's an accomplishment as a player, it's an amazing accomplishment. Like I said I would rather be doing other things and accomplish that as a team. What I am looking forward to is Wednesday. We have a trophy in front of us and an opportunity to lift something at home and give back to our fans that have been here from the beginning. I think that's more important.”
On carrying this momentum over to Wednesday:
“Everybody showed up. You see everybody is working with each other. Everybody is defending. Everybody is attacking. That's what we need. We finished a bunch of chances today and we probably could have had a couple more. At the end of the day we still need to fix a little bit on ourselves defensively in how to prevent goals from happening, especially Toluca, who is so good at scoring goals, especially in the last couple weeks. So as long as we lock them in defensively I think attacking, we'll be solid. It's nice to see that Joe had a hat trick today. I got one myself and we created so many chances.”
On if tonight's offensive performance is more of a reflection of the Galaxy or SKC:
“It's crazy. Every team we play against, they always tell us, I don't know how you guys are last. It's the same question every time. You start looking back and you're like, we do have a good team. Where did we slip, make mistakes? Yeah, we did all that. I think last year we scored a lot of goals and also let in a lot of goals. This year we're not maybe scoring as many as last year and that's the difference. If you're scoring goals and scoring more than the other team, of course you're going to win games. Sometimes beating those teams you can score one or two goals and keep it zero, those teams make playoffs. I think that's where we weren't good enough this year. We need to definitely work on that. And it's from everybody. It's not just this defense to offense. It's all 11 players, all 18 players, all 23 players, whoever is on the bench. Everybody needs to be better at that. I think next year it's something that everybody needs to work on. But I think more importantly it's Wednesday. Everybody needs to be prepared for that. It doesn't matter who is on the field. We all need to step up and make sure we don't give any chances to the other team. When we have our own chances we need to bury them.”
On his partnership with Edwin Cerrillo in the midfield and how that could impact the match against Toluca:
“To be honest when I play with Edwin, it's kind of one of those things we look at each other, all right, we're locking it in. Let's just finish out the game strong. The guy is a hard worker. He's feisty like me. It kind of brings us together a little more. But I think our midfield, at the end of the day, we have a really strong midfield. I think sometimes, yeah, we give passes away or sometimes we get broken, but that's part of the game. But it doesn't matter who is in there. I think Elijah did a good job today; his motor [was] running. Definitely helped us a lot breaking through the ball and driving at defenders. It helps. And then someone like Edwin who can break people up, goes into challenges, doesn't care who you are, and it makes the game a little simpler. At the end of the day I just want to win the game, and whatever it takes, whatever position I play, I just want to make sure we win.”
On how he mentors and leads younger Galaxy teammates:
"I think you need to look at yourself and know where you were. When I was younger I had people around me that taught me things and all I had to do was listen. I think that's an important thing for them. When you listen and you take advice from peers, teammates, coaches, whoever is around you, they're always trying to make you better. Sometimes you just listening and just taking that information is important. I think some people don't like taking information. They think they know what it's like, what they have to do. If you take as much information that's -- you'll take it to the next level. For me, I try to help everybody around me. I want everybody around me to be better and I want everybody to know what they're doing. I've been in the league so many years I know how to read the game a little more. When you go out there, like I said, I just want to win the game. It doesn't matter what position I play, who is in front of me, next to me. I just try to make people around me better and I want them to make me better.”
On what to expect from Wednesday’s Campeones Cup match and how to prepare:
“I think we need to keep our foot on the accelerator. Everybody needs to come hungry like we did today. I think everybody wanted to win. The XG, I don't know how they calculate that. I think from going to Kansas City last time and them not having a shot and winning the game, I think we deserved it today to come out here and really punish them. But like I said, soccer games are played the day of. Whoever is prepared for those games and is ready and finishes their chances wins the game. I think Wednesday everybody needs to come in and be prepared for a final. It doesn't matter who is in front of them. We just have to make sure we finish the game with more goals than them. At the end of the day we just need to win that. I think everybody is prepared for it. Now we need to turn around and say, you know what? We're playing a final in a couple days. The most important thing is rest, recover, and be prepared for that.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD JOSEPH PAINTSIL
On how the first goal helped his confidence for the remainder of the match:
“Yeah, the first goal was something we train about, so it was not really like a surprising thing for me. We tried in the last game but it couldn't work, but today we decided to try it again and fortunately [it] just happened. So I was just happy when I had the first goal. I had that kind of feeling and confidence that I was just alone moving around without any aggressive contact, nothing. So I felt really like good in the game just to run behind them, and they also give me a lot of spaces and I also use any space to do whatever I need to do.”
On the play that led to his second goal:
“Yeah, so when I saw Gabe with his action and I saw Cuevas with this run, I knew it's going to go to Cuevas, so even though I was a little bit behind I just need to just go to the second pose and just surprise the defenders because they were a little bit slipping. So I just run in behind and Cuevas gave me the ball. And I think we have done this before. Was it last year also? It was also like a similar ball from Riqui to Cuevas and from me to -- it's like the club game we played last time. That was last year. Yeah.”
On how tonight helps the team’s confidence for Wednesday’s match:
“Yeah, it also adds confidence also to my game, but I also have the confidence to also play these kind of games, like the Campeones Cup game. It's something that I'm waiting for to give everything. I think this hat trick really boost my confidence. For that, I will just take it into the game on Wednesday and to give everything and the team gives everything and we just see whatever will happen.”
On if he prepared differently leading up to his hat trick:
“No. I think it was the same thing. It's just a different opponent. Just the same play we always play. I'm someone that when you always give me the space I will just make use of the space. It's not something that we train in training, but it's just how to -- while they are playing two forwards how we need to play them out and everything. But the information stays the same and the way we play stay the same. Just to put the ball out as quick as possible, use the lines. So I think it was just for us nothing really changes. It was just today was a good day in the office for me.”
On if the win is a reflection of the team’s power, or of SKC’s standings:
“It's not just because it's Kansas City. I think we can do it and we have proven it before. Just that this season we having some difficulties. It's not easy for us, but it's always like this. But playing against Kansas City, it's like we playing against them in their home game they never even hit a shot and they came here. They know that it's also going to happen, even though they scored. It's not because of the team why we had these four goals. I think in the [MLS] Cup game also we had three goals or something. So it's something we are capable of. It's just we don't have the luck to make it keep happening. Just lose concentration and lose easy balls for the counterattack to us. We just always make it so easy for the other opponents to have access to our goal.”
On working his way back onto the Ghanaian National Team:
“It's really important for me to always make my mark, especially when I am in my team, my club, LA Galaxy. With the national team it's something also really important towards the World Cup. It's also boost me, give me that energy to go to my national team to do whatever I need to do, no matter the amount of minutes they give me I don't really care in my national team though, but the most important thing is my club, and the most important thing is for me to focus on my club and the national team when it comes, it's kudos. It's also give my an additional power to also go to the national team with these two games we have for the qualification of the World Cup. We just hope and wish we win our first game and just go through the World Cup.”
On Harbor Miller’s development and how he helps Joe’s performance:
“Yeah, he's really young and really talented. I think he's right back, but, you know, him being so young and playing right back and playing position like this is also like going to attack and coming back the same way as playing a right back. He's been amazing all the games that he has featured, and really kudos to him because he's really giving everything as a young player and I really appreciate him a lot. I wish with he keeps going like this and for the next game for the next season and the next season, because this is a club that is much more easier for everybody to log in and just show himself, and he's doing exactly what he has to do and he's doing really great and I'm really happy for him.”
On if it changes the game if Harbor plays on the left versus the right:
“Yeah, Harbor, I see him as a right back now I don't think he is a right back anymore. I think he needs to play maybe also in the left winger. Yeah, he's doing amazing. He's doing amazing and he always giving us also options, and that's something that is also really great, because it gives me also a lot of options and a lot of space behind the defenders. As you can see, whenever he has the ball he's dangerous. They either come to him or they leave me alone. As you can see he also did what he need to do, push hard and give me an assist in the game. So he's really like amazing player and I really love playing against him. I don't love playing, you know -- I love playing with him, but I don't love playing against him, especially when we are training. He's really, really hard on me. I don't know why, but, yeah, I really love him.”
On if he was expecting to get as many opportunities as he did:
“Yeah, I think the game, we knew that we had the upper hand because as we reflect to what we did before, we did whatever we need to do. Ball possession was on our side and everything, shoot the ball on their post. So they coming here and it's either they just work their way through and just see if they can win. But moreover I think they also had the confidence that when teams come here they always take points and just go, so they also had that kind of energy to also win here. But the players were really like really focused, because if we don't win this game our confidence going to the next game on Wednesday will be limited. I think everybody was fully focused to win this game so we can get the energy and the confidence to focus on the Wednesday game, and I think we did that as a team and as an individual. I'm really happy for the team at least winning a point in our home to prepare for the Wednesday game. That's really important for us.
So we just hope and just wish that we just win the Wednesday Cup and then we just give glory to God.”
