LOS ANGELES (October 25, 2026) – The LA Galaxy (10-11-11, 41 points) drew 2-2 with Western Conference rival LAFC (12-9-11, 47 points) at BMO Stadium in the 28th edition of the El Tráfico derby on Apple TV’s Sunday Night Soccer. LA Galaxy Designated Player Joseph Paintsil opened the scoring on the night with a brace to give the visitors a two-goal lead, but LAFC managed to pull level with two scores of their own in the second half and the sides shared the points.
Ventura County FC advanced in the MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs with a 1-0 victory over Portland Timbers 2 at Providence Park on Sunday night. Arnau Vilamitjana delivered the game-winning goal in the 84th minute to send VCFC through to the next round. With the victory, VCFC will now host LAFC2 in the Western Conference Finals on Friday, October 30 at 7 p.m. PT at Dignity Health Sports Park in the main stadium.
Goalscoring Plays
LA – Joseph Paintsil (Robert Taylor), 34th minute: Taylor intercepted a pass in midfield and drove down the right wing before playing a low ball across the face of goal to Paintsil at the back post, where he tapped home the finish.
LA – Joseph Paintsil, 51st minute: Erik Thommy carried the ball down the left wing and into the penalty area, where his shot was initially saved before Paintsil pounced on the rebound to score his second goal of the evening.
LAFC – Denis Bouanga, 53rd minute: After an LAFC long shot was saved, the rebound fell to Bouanga who tapped in to bring the scoreline to 2-1.
LAFC – Leo Walta, 63rd minute: A deflected LAFC cross ended up at the feet of Walta, who poked in the equalizer.
Postgame Notes
- LA Galaxy Designated Player Joseph Paintsil opened tonight’s scoring with his sixth and seventh MLS Regular Season goals of the season in his return to the starting XI.
- Sergi Roberto donned the captain’s armband for the Galaxy tonight, his first match as captain since joining the club in August.
- Forward Robert Taylor continued his impactful form with another assist tonight, his fifth goal contribution (one goal, four assists) in the club’s last six matches.
- Marco Reus was a late scratch due to illness tonight, joining Hirving Lozano, Kyōgo Furuhashi, and Isaiah Parente on the inactive list ahead of the match. Reus currently leads the Galaxy with 12 MLS assists and has recorded nine contributions (four goals, five assists) in his last eight appearances.
Next Up
The LA Galaxy return to Dignity Health Sports Park for Fan Appreciation Day in their 2026 MLS Regular Season home finale against Austin FC next Saturday, October 31 (2:00 p.m. PT, Apple TV).
Match Information
Match: LA Galaxy vs LAFC
Date: October 25, 2026
Venue: BMO Stadium; Los Angeles, California
Weather: Clear and 72°F
Scoring Summary
|
1
|
2
|
F
|
LA Galaxy
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
LAFC
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
LA: Joseph Paintsil (Robert Taylor), 34’
LA: Joseph Paintsil, 51’
LAFC: Denis Bouanga, 53’
LAFC: Leo Walta, 63’
Lineups
LA Galaxy: GK JT Marcinkowski; D Harbor Miller, D Justin Haak, D Emiro Garcés, D John Nelson; M Pablo Ruiz, M Sergi Roberto, M Erik Thommy (Lucas Sanabria, 67’); F Robert Taylor (Lucas Calegari, 67’), F Joseph Paintsil (Jakob Glesnes, 73’) (Maya Yoshida, 90’), F João Klauss
Substitutes not used: Novak Mićović, Julián Aude, Elijah Wynder, Troy Elgersma
LAFC: GK Hugo Lloris; D Sergi Palencia, D Aaron Long, D Ryan Porteous (Nkosi Tafari, 66’), D Yevhen Cheberko; M Leo Walta (Tyler Boyd, 82’), M Igor Jesus (Mathieu Choiniere, 46'), M Mark Delgado (Sergio Vasquez, 66’), M Heung Min Son, M Armindo Sieb; F Denis Bouanga
Substitutes not used: Thomas Hasal, Eddie Segura, Ryan Hollingshead, Jacob Shaffelburg, Jeremy Ebobisse
Stats Summary
|
LAFC
|
LA
|
Shots
|
21
|
11
|
Shots on Goal
|
5
|
5
|
Saves
|
3
|
3
|
Corner Kicks
|
12
|
1
|
Fouls
|
9
|
7
|
Offsides
|
4
|
2
|
Possession
|
56.7%
|
43.3%
|
Misconduct Summary
LAFC: Ryan Porteous (caution) 55’
LA: Pablo Ruiz (caution) 90+3’
Officials
Referee: Armando Villarreal
Assistant Referees: Jeremy Kieso, Ryan Graves
Fourth Official: Ramy Touchan
VAR: Ismir Pekmic, Lorenzo Hernandez
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
LA Galaxy Postgame Top Quotes
LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney
On the result:
“Every point matters right now, I still think that. We’ll see how everybody goes on Wednesday, we rest a little bit and regroup, and we play the next home game. And there's still, to be fair, even though there's not a ton, there's still a lot of soccer to be played over the next sort of week or week and a half. And obviously, our last game is against RSL, which could prove to be a massive game in the end. We'll see how the next week or so goes. This isn’t an easy place to come and take three. It's disappointing because we were in position to do so. But at the same time, now we just got to go home and get ourselves three at home. Be smart about it. Get ourselves three at home and then see what the last one looks like.”
On where he sees the team going into the final few games:
“The key here is to get ourselves into the playoffs, and then I think we can play against anyone. As we're healthy and we get Chucky [Lozano] back, and we get Kyōgo [Furuhashi] back, and we have Marco [Reus] back, we have a great team that can start, and we have great guys who could come in. We've lost like three of our last fourteen or something like that. So, we've been pretty stingy. We've been hard to beat. Obviously, we rotated and got beat up a little bit in St. Louis, but I felt like that was an anomaly. In general, I feel like nobody should want to play us as we get into the playoffs, and it's a team that's come together a little bit late because of all the movement in the summer. But I still think if we can do the business the last couple weeks, we are a very dangerous team going into the playoffs.”
On when in the match the priority became securing a point:
“I think it was after it went to two and I felt like we started to see a little bit of fatigue from the front three, which at that point was Robert [Taylor] and Eric [Thommy]. I felt like once we were getting out, sometimes we were just taking shots from places we shouldn't be taking shots from, and losing balls in ways we shouldn't, which means more work on the defending side. The problem is those three guys, the guys up there, were starting to get fatigued, so they weren't able to do the work on the defending side. And I felt like with Bouanga and the guys that they have, that we needed to do the work. So I went with Harbor [Miller] up a line because I felt like Lucas [Sanabria] coming on would need some support defending on the outside. We pushed him up a line and then just brought on fresh legs in Lucas, who will run around and get into duels and win some balls and disrupt and give some energy going the other direction. It was soon after it went to 2-0, and I didn't feel like we were necessarily able to get back on the ball and start to get control of the game. And not having many attacking options. It became a little bit more about making sure we protect things, and if we can break out, let's get going. But otherwise, make sure we close it down.”
LA Galaxy Forward Joseph Paintsil
On how he feels getting back on the scoresheet:
“I feel really relaxed. I feel really happy. As an offensive player, this is all you always pray for. And me having two goals in today's game is just such a blessing for me. I just really thank God that I was able to score and make a draw for us at the end of the game. Even though the point we wanted wasn't the one we just got, this is football, we just need to keep going and no matter what we just need to put our heads up.”
On the season coming down to the final two games of the season:
“It's a do or die situation for us. We have to win those two games. It's a must for us. We don't have any excuse. We have to give our heart and have everything to just be in the playoffs because when you are in the playoffs, it's a whole different ball game. It doesn't matter who is the first position or second position, we just have to clinch that playoff and just see what exactly is going to happen after the playoff. But as you can see, we have some injured players also. Some, almost one is also coming back with Chucky, so at least it also adds some energy to the team. And we seeing back is going to really help us also. Especially we have a lot of options from the wing side. So, it's really a plus for us. So, all we have to do is just give everything in the home game, everything that we got for the supporters, everything. We don't have no excuse. We just have to win that game.”
On if he sees an increased level in confidence within the team recently:
"I am. The guys are really built up with a lot of confidence. Especially in training. The last training that we had, which was Friday and Saturday, it was really amazing. Even the whole week, the confidence is there. Everybody is trying to do his possible best. So, I think everybody really has the confidence. As you can see, when we started the league, it wasn't really good going in our favor. But as time goes on, I think we are getting what we have to get. So, I think each and every player is really comfortable and really confident in himself to move to the next step and to do everything to help the team."
