LOS ANGELES (April 26, 2026) – The LA Galaxy (3‑4‑3, 12 points) earned a 2–1 home victory over Western Conference foe Real Salt Lake (5‑3‑1, 16 points) on Apple TV’s Sunday Night Soccer at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson. Marco Reus opened the scoring with a free kick inside the first 10 minutes, before Real Salt Lake equalized in the dying moments of the first half. The Galaxy then regained the lead late in the second half by earning a penalty kick, which Reus converted for his brace to secure the win.
Goalscoring Plays
LA – Marco Reus, 9th minute: After a foul by Real Salt Lake set up a free kick for LA on the edge of the box, Reus stepped up and curled his shot over the wall and into the top-left corner to give the Galaxy a 1–0 lead.
RSL – JT Marcinkowski (OG), 45+4th minute: Salt Lake sent a cross in from the left to the back post, where Gozo’s shot hit the frame, only to ricochet off the Galaxy goalkeeper to level the match at 1–1.
LA – Marco Reus (PK), 85th minute: Galaxy midfielder Elijah Wynder was taken down in the box to earn the Galaxy a penalty. Reus stepped to the spot and precisely placed his shot into the bottom-left corner, slipping it under the goalkeeper’s glove to restore LA’s lead.
Postgame Notes
- LA Galaxy Captain Marco Reus added his ninth and 10th league goals for the club in tonight’s match, his third and fourth so far this season, and his 14th in all competitions since his arrival in late 2024. Reus secured the full three points and his brace on the night with a penalty kick goal in the 85th minute; his first PK scored in blue, white, and gold.
- Jakob Glesnes returned to the starting XI tonight after missing the previous eight matches due to injury. He played the first 45 minutes of the match before subbing off at halftime due to a pre-planned minutes restriction as he ramps back up to full fitness.
- Chris Rindov made his 2026 debut in the match as a second-half substitute, his seventh league appearance for LA overall.
- The Galaxy extended their scoring streak to 19 consecutive matches behind Marco Reus’ brace, the longest active scoring streak in MLS.
- Uruguayan brothers Lucas Sanabria (LA) and Juan Manuel Sanabria(RSL) shared the pitch for the first time in their professional careers on opposite sides of Dignity Health Sports Park tonight.
- The LA Galaxy unveiled a statue of legendary midfielder Cobi Jonesthis afternoon at Dignity Health Sports Park prior to the match against Real Salt Lake. Jones is officially the third Galaxy player to be immortalized in bronze inside Legends Plaza at DHSP, following David Beckham and Landon Donovan.
Next Up
The LA Galaxy welcome Vancouver Whitecaps FC to Dignity Health Sports Park next Saturday, May 2 (7:30 p.m. PT, Apple TV) for WWE Night, presented by Soonhari. German legends Marco Reus and Vancouver’s Thomas Müller are set to go head-to-head for the first time in MLS competition.
Match Information
Match: LA Galaxy vs Real Salt Lake
Date: April 26, 2026
Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, CA
Weather: Clear and 65°F
Scoring Summary
|
1
|
2
|
F
|
LA Galaxy
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
Real Salt Lake
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
LA: Marco Reus, 9’
RSL: JT Marcinkowski (OG), 45+4’
LA: Marco Reus (PK), 85’
Lineups
LA Galaxy: GK JT Marcinkowski; D John Nelson (Chris Rindov, 89’), D Emiro Garcés, D Jakob Glesnes (Edwin Cerrillo, 46’) (Elijah Wynder, 67’), D Mauricio Cuevas; M Lucas Sanabria, M Justin Haak, M Marco Reus (Isaiah Parente, 89’); F Harbor Miller (Miki Yamane, 72), Gabriel Pec, F Joseph Paintsil
Substitutes not used: Novak Mićović, Troy Elgersma, Ruben Ramos Jr., Julian Placias
Real Salt Lake: GK Rafael Cabral; D Justen Glad, D Philip Quinton (DeAndre Yedlin, 76’), D Sam Junqua, D Juan Sanabria; M Stijn Spierings (Pablo Ruiz, 86’), M Noel Caliskan, M Aiden Hezarkhani (Morgan Guilavogui, 56’), M Diego Luna (Dominik Marczuk, 76’); F Zavier Gozo, F Victor Olatunji (Sergi Solans, 56’)
Substitutes not used: Mason Stajduhar, Alexandros Katranis, Zach Booth, Griffin Dillon
Stats Summary
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LA
|
RSL
|
Shots
|
16
|
15
|
Shots on Goal
|
7
|
9
|
Saves
|
9
|
4
|
Corner Kicks
|
7
|
0
|
Fouls
|
16
|
14
|
Offsides
|
3
|
1
|
Possession
|
45.4%
|
54.6%
|
Misconduct Summary
LA: Justin Haak (caution) 21’
LA: Lucas Sanabria (caution) 42’
RSL: Noel Caliskan (caution) 48’
RSL: Juan Manuel Sanabria (caution) 55’
LA: Mauricio Cuevas (caution) 57’
RSL: Diego Luna (caution) 63’
RSL: Sam Junqua (caution) 83’
RSL: Pablo Mastroeni, Head Coach (caution) 86’
LA: Elijah Wynder (caution) 90+3’
Officials
Referee: Victor Rivas
Assistant Referees: Chris Elliott, Matthew Schwartz
Fourth Official: Elijio Arreguin
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial.
LA Galaxy Postgame Top Quotes
LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney
On how important tonight's three points are to the team:
“Man, massive for a lot of reasons. Obviously just the last couple results at home haven't been what we've wanted, what we had hoped or expected. So that's one. Two, it's just been a grind for the group. Like 15 games I think we are now, 16 maybe; 22,300 miles that we've traveled since the start of the season. Guys have given everything in my opinion, and to just kind of dig as deep as they did today to get that one across the line is massive for that locker room and for those guys. I wish we'd have made it a little easier for ourselves in the first half. I thought we had a really strong first half and had a number of chances to give ourselves maybe a little bit more of an advantage, but the second half, just because guys are banged up at the moment and two games on the road coming into this game makes this game, even though it's at home, it feels like it's a road game because you're traveling in to come to play it. So I knew guys were going to be gassing and they kept battling and scrapping and found a way to win it, so I'm super proud of them. It's huge for the group, and that's the most important thing in this moment.”
On todays Cobi Jones Statue Unveil:
“It was a beautiful day. For me, Cobi is the legend of this club, respectfully to all the guys who have statues out there. For me, he is the legend of the club. He's been here since day one. He's played every game. His whole career was here. His blood, sweat, tears, everything was about LA Galaxy and the city of Los Angeles, and he's a close friend, but he's a guy who gave his whole career to the Galaxy. It was a beautiful day to see people show up and support him and honor him in the way that I think he deserves. I think seeing a statue in front will feel appropriate, in my eyes. And he's a guy -- and I said to him, he came in the locker room after, for me he's a guy that while he had some flash and he did some incredible attacking things, for me it was his grit and determination and desire which made Cobi, Cobi. He was a guy who was told over his career that -- he was a walk-on at UCLA, and he just showed what it embodied to play with desire, to play with a passion, to play with somebody who might be telling you no, and he's going to find a way to get it done. I felt like today's performance, and I said this to the guy, was kind of an embodiment of who Cobi is, which is just find a way to keep persevering and keep getting it done and success will find you when you keep earning it the way he did. I was honored to be out there, as I've told him many times. He's earned it. He deserves it. Now, for me, legends plaza is a little more where it should be.”
On Marco’s performance and the consistency he brings:
“The reality of it is Marco is our quality when it comes to setting up final actions in our midfield stuff like that. The other guys are grinders. They're hard workers. They're facilitators of the game. But Marco is the creative guy who sees something different, who has the technique and all those things to get Joe and Gabe and guys hopefully in scoring positions and he's been getting some himself because obviously his experience and knowledge and understanding of space and where to go. For us, he just brings something that nobody else on the field brings for us, and we need that. I think it elevates the opportunities for Joe and Gabe, and it helps in our midfield to gives us something that is an experience that I don't think we have with the rest of the group. So he's been great.
The key for us is that we've got to find moments in the game that we make sure we turn it into a soccer game and it's not just that we have possessions and that we give him the ball and give him opportunities to do the things that he does and it's not always a grind the whole time because that doesn't suit him all the time. But he was still able to find ways to be a difference maker inside of even a tough day like that.”
LA Galaxy Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski
On how important tonight’s win was:
“Yeah, massive. You can feel it in the locker room, you can feel it after. We've talked a lot the past few days of determination, battling, being able to fight for one another on the field. I think our performance tonight really embodied that and showed us kind of that's the least that we can do for every single game going forward. I think that a few of our performances at home this year have not been up to par and have not been good enough. It was nice just to be able to find a way to win. It wasn't necessarily the prettiest game by any means, but we kind of knew that going in with the way the Salt Lake plays and the way they set up their team. We really wanted to outwork them. We wanted to be the aggressors, set the tone. I thought the performance was really solid.”
On having Jakob Glesnes back on the field:
“He's a best 11 defender, so of course his presence out there means a lot. He's vocal. He's always in the right position. He is able to lead the team from the back. I think he just brings a sense of calm and brings a sense of confidence with him. He's been there before. He's done that for this league and been on Supporter Shield winning teams, so it's really nice to have him back. But again, it's not just him. I think it was everybody who played tonight, and not just the starting 11, but the guys who came in. Obviously there's been a few adjustments we had to make in the second half, but, yeah, I thought it was a really solid performance from everybody.”
On making saves and how he prepares for a match:
“Yeah, I think that's the goal as a goalkeeper is to try to make the hard saves look easy. I think I was told that from a really young age. I think it's also the way we defended and the way my back line forced them into tougher shooting angles. It wasn't like they had super clear chances. I think that's always a benefit as a goalkeeper is when the balls are coming at you, doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad shot. I think the defending forced them into that angle or forced them into making that decision. At the end of the day, I just try to make as many saves as I can, try to help the team win, and fortunately we did that.”
LA Galaxy Midfielder Marco Reus
On how big this win is after struggling at home early in the season:
“It's huge, honestly, because we were struggling at home very much. Today to win it in this way, of course we take it. I think from the first, I think we deserved to win this game because we were coming out with a different mentality. I told the guys that we just can't go out and just play. We have to play dirty at some point in different situations on the field, and we did it, especially in the first half. I think we could score more goals because we were creating, we were very aggressive. It was a good first half. Then the second half the energy goes down a little bit, and then we were, not struggling, but we were always aware of situations where they could be dangerous. At the end, it was just a mental win.”
On Harbor Miller stepping up amidst injuries in the squad:
“Yeah, I mean, it's huge. You have to step up in some situations as a young player. If you are 18, 19, 20 and you can play for this club, it's a huge opportunity, so you have to take it. Maybe sometimes you need a couple more games to show it, to show your potential, your quality in the team. But it's part of the game. Some players getting injured and some young players have to step up. I think Harbor did a great job today, especially in the first half. He was very aggressive. That's the only way for us.”
On what he saw in the first half that was a blueprint moving forward
“I mean, we understood that you don't have to play nice to win games. Sometimes you have to play dirty to win games. That's maybe we add another piece of how we could win games. It is still a process to do it for some players, to understand it, because every game is different. But every game is the same. You have to go with the right mentality, with the same energy, and if you don't do it, you can't win the game. For me, it was a little bit in the last weeks of we just want to play not nice, of course effective, we can play dirty, but today was really good toughness and playing together as a team. It doesn't matter if we're defending or if we're playing forward. Yeah, but I would say the dirtiness in this game today was the key.”
