Galaxy

Matheus Nascimento and Joseph Paintsil each scored on Saturday night to help the Galaxy beat Minnesota United 2-1 in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Minnesota (16-8-10) is fourth in the Western Conference and will play fifth-seeded Seattle in the best-of-three first round of the MLS Cup playoffs.

Nascimento gave the Galaxy (7-18-9) the lead for good when he scored on a first-touch shot from the center of the area in the 12th minute.

Paintsil, on the counterattack, outraced the defense down the left sideline and then bounced a low shot off the far post and then slammed home his own rebound to make it 2-0 in the 52nd.

Joaquín Pereyra scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time for Minnesota.

A couple of minutes later, the Galaxy’s Edwin Cerrillo was shown a yellow card in the 67th and another, resulting in a red, in the seventh minute of stoppage time.

Gabriel Pec had a goal and an assist, Elijah Wynder also scored a goal and the Galaxy beat FC Dallas 2-1 on Saturday night.

Pec put away a shot from nearly the penalty spot to give the Galaxy (6-18-9) a 2-1 lead in the 87th minute.

Dallas (10-12-11) is eighth in the Western Conference with 41 points, three behind seventh-place Portland. Salt Lake and Colorado are tied with 40 points.

Logan Farrington was shown a straight red card in the 16th minute and Dallas played a man down the rest of the way.

Wynder slipped behind the defense and ran onto a long ball ahead played by Pec and then scored on a shot from the edge of the penalty area that deflected off goalkeeper Michael Collodi, who had charged off his line, to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute.

Anderson Julio put away a first-touch finish — off a cross played by Samuel Sarver — from the center of the area to make it 1-1 in the 52nd.

The Galaxy had 67% possession and outshot Dallas 13-9.

Joseph Paintsil had a hat trick by halftime and the Galaxy cruised to a 4-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night.

Paintsil scored goals in the fourth, 25th, and 43rd minutes for his first hat trick and the fastest in club history. Paintsil has nine goals this season. Defender Mauricio Cuevas notched two assists for a career-best five this season.

Diego Fagúndez used assists from Paintsil — his fifth — and Gabriel Pec to score his fifth goal and cap the scoring for the Galaxy (5-17-9) in the 60th minute. Pec assisted on Paintsil’s final goal and has eight this season. Fagúndez picked up his third assist on Paintsil’s first netter.

Dejan Joveljić scored in the 28th minute for Sporting KC (7-19-6). It was his 18th goal of the season after scoring 15 times for the Galaxy last season in their championship run.

Novak Micovic saved five shots for the Galaxy.

John Pulskamp had five saves for Sporting KC.

Shapi Suleymanov will miss the next match for Sporting KC after he subbed in in the 70th minute and was tagged with a red card in the 83rd.

Sporting KC travels to play Minnesota United on Saturday. The Galaxy travel to play FC Dallas on Saturday.

Mario is headed to outer space for his next cinematic adventure.

Nintendo held a supersized livestream of announcements Friday commemorating the 40th anniversary of “Super Mario Bros.”: The first game in the popular franchise was released in Japan in September 1985. Among the news items shared by the company’s video game maestro Shigeru Miyamoto is that the sequel to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is officially titled “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.” The follow-up to the 2023 blockbuster is slated to hit theaters in April.

“What kinds of adventures do you think Mario and his friends will have in space?” Miyamoto, who created Nintendo’s iconic mustachioed hero, said during Nintendo Direct after sharing a brief teaser for the film. “This movie will be the main event of the ‘Super Mario Bros.’ 40th anniversary.”

“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is another collaboration between Nintendo and the animation studio Illumination. During the livestreamed announcement, producer and Illumination chief executive Chris Meledandri shared that “while the ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ games are the core inspiration for our story, this next film holds surprises for fans of every Mario era.”

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” directors Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath are once again at the helm for “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.” Also returning are cast members Chris Pratt (Mario), Anya Taylor-Joy (Princess Peach), Charlie Day (Luigi), Jack Black (Bowser), Keegan-Michael Key (Toad) and Kevin Michael Richardson (Kamek), as well as composer Brian Tyler.

The announcement did not mention whether Lumalee — the cheerfully nihilistic star-shaped blue being that Luigi meets during “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” — will return for the sequel, but the teaser did include a glimpse of a yellow Luma. So it’s impossible not to hope that the character will have some sort of role in “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” since the star-shaped creatures appear in both the 2007 video game “Super Mario Galaxy” and its 2010 sequel. While the character in the movie had memorable one-liners about “the sweet relief of death” and how “hope is an illusion,” in the games these blue Lumas are more helpful merchants of life.

New characters likely to debut in the sequel include Rosalina, a sort of guardian of the cosmos and caretaker of the Lumas who first appeared in the “Super Mario Galaxy” game, as well as Yoshi, the dinosaur-like character who can grab faraway objects — and foes — with his tongue. Yoshi was teased in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s” post-credits scene.

The success of films like “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide, is among the reasons Hollywood has recently pivoted to more video-game inspired fare. The “Super Mario” movie sequel was first announced in 2024.

The Galaxy, stumbling through the worst season in the franchise’s long history, has looked to the Leagues Cup, a tournament with little pedigree and no real history, to salvage the year.

And for much of the monthlong competition that worked, with the Galaxy cruising into the tournament semifinals unbeaten. But reality and the Seattle Sounders caught up with them Wednesday, when goals from Pedro de la Vega and Osaze De Rosario gave Seattle a 2-0 victory and a spot in Sunday’s Leagues Cup final against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.

The Galaxy will play host to Orlando City, a 3-1 loser in the other semifinal, in Sunday’s third-place game, where a berth in next season’s CONCACAF Champions Cup will be on the line.

Qualifying for the confederation’s top club competition would be a considerable accomplishment for the Galaxy, who are last in the MLS table nine months after winning their sixth league title. But they’ve played like another team in the Leagues Cup, emerging unbeaten from group play, where they faced three Liga MX teams, then eliminating Mexico’s Pachuca in the quarterfinals. And through the quarterfinals, they were scoring three goals a game, more than double their average in MLS.

The Sounders wasted little time taking control, going in front on De la Vega’s goal in the seventh minute and never looking back.

The score came on the last of a flurry of shots inside the Galaxy penalty area. The first, from De Rosario, was saved in the center of the goal by Novak Micovic, who dove to push the rebound out to his right. As Micovic scrambled after the loose ball, Jesús Ferreira took a shot, which Micovic, still on his stomach, also saved. But that rebound fell to De la Vega, who would not be denied, putting his right-footed shot into the back of the net.

That was the fifth consecutive goal Seattle has scored in two games at Dignity Health Sports Park since being shut out in last fall’s Western Conference final.

Both keepers made diving one-handed saves — Seattle’s Andrew Thomas on the Galaxy’s Diego Fagundez in the 28th minute and Micovic on Obed Vargas 12 minutes later — to keep the score 1-0 at the intermission.

But the physical De Rosario doubled the Sounders’ lead with a splendid goal 12 minutes into the second half, heading down a pass in the box, lifting it back over his head with his right foot, then bulling his way through Galaxy defenders John Nelson, Zanka and Maya Yoshida before beating Micovic cleanly from the edge of the six-yard box.

Micovic deserved better on a night when he was forced into a season-high six saves and got little help from his defenders. Still his performance was better than that of Mexican referee Adonai Escobedo, who struggled to control the match. Escobedo did make good use of VAR to correct a missed call in the final 10 minutes of regulation, however, expelling Seattle defender Nouhou Tolo for a rough challenge and forcing the Sounders to see out the victory with 10 men.

On the other end, Thomas made four saves to shut the Galaxy out at home for the second time in 17 days.

LAFC’s signing of South Korean star Son Heung-min earlier this month is a major coup not just for the team. It’s also the latest in a spate of acquisitions that has brought an unprecedented level of talent and attention to MLS as the league nears the end of its 30th anniversary season.

Since Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami shortly after winning the 2022 World Cup, MLS has welcomed more than two dozen global standouts, from World Cup champions Hugo Lloris, Olivier Giroud, Rodrigo De Paul and Thomas Mueller to Germany’s Marco Reus and Uruguay’s Luis Suárez.

Some were a bit past their prime but others, including Messi, have proven to be dominant MLS players. The addition of Son, arguably the best Asian player of all time, opens a new chapter for the league and U.S. soccer as the country prepares to welcome the World Cup back next summer.

With that as a backdrop, here’s one man’s list of the 10 most important signings in MLS history:

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It’s an absolute gem of a deal for students returning to college or university – although anyone on a tighter budget should look at a similar Chromebook giveaway with the cheaper Samsung Galaxy A16 at Tesco Mobile.

By contrast, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is the brand’s reigning monarch of smartphones.

Here, it’s bundled with a brand-new Samsung Chromebook Go, AND a set of noise-cancelling earphones.

Best of all, you’re getting the best of everything, all on one simple monthly plan on the iD Mobile network.

Prices for these pay-monthly plans can vary, as is standard practice.

As you’d probably imagine, the more you pay upfront, the lower your monthly bill will be, giving you flexibility to choose a plan that suits your budget.

You’ll find cheaper phones elsewhere, that’s for sure, but the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is a beast, plain and simple.

This top-end Android handset has all the latest tech, including some clever AI stuff, and a camera that’s in a league of its own.

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Jamie Harris, The Sun’s Assistant Tech Editor, got his hands on this top-of-the-range mobile.

In his Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review, he notes that while “all phone makers are making noise about AI,” Samsung’s new features are positioned as a “companion” to make daily life genuinely easier.

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And then of course there’s that Chromebook, which runs on Google Chrome OS and is the perfect little workhouse for browsing, admin tasks and streaming.

The best bit is that you get both of these bits of kit on a single, easy-to-manage contract.

The Buds3 Pro earbuds, meanwhile, are noise-cancelling and are sold separately for £219 on the Samsung website.

Seriously, if you’re looking for a general level up across your devices, this deal is a winner.

Just keep in mind you’ll need to head to the claims page on the Mobiles.co.uk website to ensure you get the Chromebook.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra with Buds3 Pro and
Chromebook Go: From £29.99p/m

Looking for a laptop on its lonesome? The Sun Shopping team’s Tom Tyers recently spotted a ‘powerhouse’ laptop slashed from £450 to £230 on Amazon.

Harbor Miller and Elijah Wynder scored their first career goals in MLS, Gabriel Pec also scored a goal, and the Galaxy beat the Colorado Rapids 3-0 on Saturday night to snap a four-game MLS winless streak.

JT Marcinkowski made his first MLS appearance since 2023 and had a save for the Galaxy (4-16-7). The 28-year-old, who signed with the Galaxy in January after seven seasons with San José, missed the 2024 season while recovering from knee surgery.

Miller, an 18-year-old defender, gave the Galaxy a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute. On the counter-attack, Miller ran onto a centering pass played by Miki Yamane and blasted a first-touch shot from near the penalty spot into the net.

The 22-year-old Wynder tapped a pass from the center of the area to Yamane on the right side. Yamane played a first-touch pass back to Wynder, who redirected it into the net from near the penalty spot to make it 2-0 in the 55th.

Pec, on the counter-attack, ran onto a long ball played ahead by Marco Reus and outraced the defense to the edge of the six-yard box where he slipped a shot between the legs of goalkeeper Zack Steffen to cap the scoring in the 75th minute.

Steffen stopped two shots for Colorado (10-12-6).

With the terrible year they’ve had in MLS, expectations weren’t exactly high for Galaxy ahead of their Leagues Cup quarterfinal match against Pachuca.

The Galaxy suffered embarrassing defeats during their past two MLS games, falling at home to the Seattle Sounders and on the road against Inter Miami.

However, Galaxy coach Greg Vanney’s players put the losses behind them and continued to perform well in Leagues Cup play, surprisingly eliminating Pachuca 2-1 on Wednesday night at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Liga MX leading Pachuca entered the match as the favorite despite losing to Xolos de Tijuana at home last Saturday.

The Galaxy opened the scoring in the 27th minute thanks to an own goal by Pachuca defender Daniel Aceves, who seemed to be struggling with ball control and spacing.

Diego Fagundez took a short corner kick for Marco Reus, who sent in a low cross and Aceves, unfortunately for his team, pushed the ball into his own net to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead.

The Galaxy kept pushing forward and their efforts soon paid off when Joseph Paintsil launched a swift attack down the left wing to Matheus Nascimento inside the box, who backheeled the ball to Reus to make it 2-0 in the 37th minute.

In the sixth minute of second half stoppage time, Pachuca found space to score a consolation goal. The goal came from a half-volley inside the box by Brazilian Alemao to make the score 2-1. The match ended a minute later, sending the Galaxy to the Leagues Cup semifinals.

All Mexican teams were eliminated from the tournament Wednesday night.

The Galaxy will play the Seattle Sounders and Inter Miami will play Orlando City for spots in the Leagues Cup final.

This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.

The Argentinian superstar returns from injury to score a goal and add an assist as Inter downs Galaxy at Chase Stadium.

Lionel Messi returned from injury as a reserve and scored in the 84th minute to lead Inter Miami to a 3-1 victory over the defending Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup champions, Los Angeles Galaxy.

The iconic 38-year-old Argentinian striker was back on the field on Saturday for Miami after suffering what Inter coach Javier Mascherano had called a “minor muscle injury” – an apparent hamstring strain – in Inter’s Leagues Cup victory over Mexican side Necaxa on August 2.

“It had been something very small,” Mascherano said of his injury after the match. “The three training sessions we had were good. The important thing is that the match ended. As the minutes went by, I saw him better. We have to see how he feels tomorrow.”

Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi, who missed a Leagues Cup win over Pumas UNAM and last weekend’s MLS loss at Orlando City, was on the bench as a reserve before entering in the second half, replacing Telasco Segovia.

“We had planned the match to give minutes to Leo [Messi]. The idea was to give him 45 minutes so that he can find sensations,” Mascherano said. “I didn’t see him after the game. Tomorrow, we’ll see what feelings he had.

“He’s an extraordinary player. I saw that he was clearly not 100 percent comfortable, but as the minutes went by, he was loosening up more and more. We will have to see how he ended with the fatigue.”

Jordi Alba scored for Miami in the 43rd minute, but Joseph Paintsil equalised for the Galaxy in the 59th minute.

Messi dominates late

Messi’s brilliant goal six minutes from full-time – a thunderous left foot strike fired from the edge of the penalty area that caromed off the bottom corner of the net – restored the lead for Miami.

He then put the victory beyond doubt with a sensational 89th-minute assist to teammate Luis Suarez, who put the home side ahead 3-1.

Messi, the reigning MLS Most Valuable Player, has 19 goals and 10 assists in 19 MLS appearances for Miami this season.

He also has the Herons into the quarterfinals of the Leagues Cup, which they won in 2023, just after Messi’s arrival. Miami will play the Tigres in a Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday.

“He wants to play every single game,” Mascherano said. “You have to understand why Leo is Leo. He always wants to be on the pitch. He’s happy there. Sometimes, we try to explain him that we have to go slowly, but when he feels good, he knows himself like no one. In the end, we tried to give him some minutes today to start having good feelings for Wednesday.”

Inter Miami rank fourth in the MLS Eastern Conference, six points behind MLS leaders Philadelphia, but with three matches in hand.

The Galaxy are the worst team in Major League Soccer. That’s not subjective opinion, it’s objective fact. Just look at the MLS standings, where the Galaxy are dead last after Sunday’s 4-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders, a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score would indicate.

But the Galaxy are also one of the four best teams in Major League Soccer. That, too, is not subjective opinion but objective fact because, after an unbeaten run through Leagues Cup group play, the Galaxy are one of just four MLS teams to advance to the tournament quarterfinals.

How can both things be true simultaneously? That’s a good question — and one that can be only be answered subjectively.

“It takes time for a group to come together and a team to find out who they are,” Galaxy general manager Will Kuntz offered. “We had to discover ourselves a little bit.”

The Galaxy’s Mauricio Cuevas lies on the field and covers his face with his hands during his team’s 4-0 loss to the Sounders in Seattle on Sunday.

(Luiza Moraes / Getty Images)

That doesn’t really capture the depth of the Galaxy’s decline. The team had one of the most successful seasons in franchise history last year, matching the modern-era record for victories (19) and going unbeaten in 21 games at Dignity Health Sports Park en route to their sixth MLS Cup.

This season, they got off to the worst start ever for a reigning champion, going 16 games without a win while being outscored 36-13. Since May 31, however, the Galaxy are 5-3-4 in all competition, with two of the wins coming against Mexican clubs Tijuana and Santos Laguna, whom they outscored 9-2 in Leagues Cup matches.

In between there were no trades, no acquisitions and no major lineup or strategic changes. Nor are there likely to be any for the reason of the season; although there are 10 days left in the MLS summer transfer window, Kuntz said “I don’t foresee us doing anything.”

So it’s pretty much been the same players and will pretty much stay the same players. Only now they’re playing (slightly) better.

“The rosters are the same, but the minutes and who’s getting them have maybe changed a little bit. Our start of the season was more of an aberration than where we’re at now,” Kuntz said.

Defender Mauricio Cuevas, for example, started just two of the team’s first 24 MLS games, but he started two of the Leagues Cup games and contributed three assists. The Galaxy were winless in league play when forward Matheus Nascimento made his first start; with Nascimento scoring six goals, they’ve lost just four of 13 games in all competition since then. And winger Joseph Paintsil, who appeared lost early in the season, has found his form from a year ago, notching six goals and an assist in his last eight matches.

Still, Kuntz’s subjective analysis feels like a bit of a cop-out since the Galaxy returned 10 of the 14 players who appeared in last year’s MLS Cup final, a game midfielder Riqui Puig, the team’s most indispensable player, missed with injury.

But it’s not so much how many players left as it is where they played that matters, the GM said. Two of the three players he traded — Mark Delgado and Gastón Brugman — were midfielders. And with Puig yet to play this year, the Galaxy started the season missing three of their top five midfielders in terms of minutes played in 2024.

“The midfield is the heart of any team,” Kuntz said. “That’s not to say we haven’t had some players who underperformed or took longer to get to speed than we thought. But the midfield consistency also impacts guys. Everything’s sort of interrelated.”

Coach Greg Vanney agreed. His team’s decline, he said, can’t be blamed on one thing.

“There are a lot of things,” he said. “I don’t think we have a super deep group when it comes to a lot of games in a short period to match some of the physicality.

“We haven’t executed. We have given up goals soft. We’ve never been able to catch any sort of consistent sort of form and rhythm inside of the league and gotten results out of it and closed out games when we need to.”

And that’s just the short list.

The Galaxy’s tepid turnaround — “We’ve been a lot better over the last stretch,” Vanney said — hasn’t been nearly good enough to lift the team out of the deep, deep hole it dug in the first three months of the season since their 3-15-7 record has them buried at the bottom of the MLS table and their 52 goals allowed are most in the league.

Cruz Azul forward Carlos Rotondi and Galaxy forward Gabriel Pec fight for the ball during a Leagues Cup match on Aug. 3 in Carson.

(Eric Thayer / Associated Press)

Yet a win over Mexico’s Pachuca next week, at home, would leave the Galaxy a win away from a berth in next season’s CONCACAF Champions Cup and two victories away from raising the Leagues Cup, giving them a second major title in nine months.

And they have another chance at hardware in October’s Campeones Cup against Mexican champion Toluca, whom they could also face in the Leagues Cup final.

“It is important to compete for trophies, right?” Kuntz asked. “The other thing you’ve see in this tournament is a bit of a fresh start for us. And guys kind of embrace that. It’s like this is what you’d see if the MLS season started today. This is kind of where we’d be.”

Where they are is last. Winning a trophy while finishing at the bottom of the MLS standings has been done before; in 2013, DC United set an MLS record for fewest wins in a season with three and broke the record for fewest points in a 34-game season with 16.

“Hey, you can still qualify for Champions [Cup]. Pretty incredible,” Kuntz said. “You need to be a goldfish, right? Have a short memory. It’s important that you not dwell on what’s already passed.

“Because the most important stretch is what comes next.”

That’s not subjective opinion. It’s objective fact.

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

Danny Musovski scored a goal in each half and 18-year-old Snyder Brunell scored in his league debut as the Seattle Sounders cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Galaxy on Sunday night.

Seattle grabbed the lead in the 25th minute on an own goal by defender Julián Aude.

The Sounders took a 2-0 lead in the 37th minute on Musovski’s unassisted goal. He made it 3-0 in the 54th minute with another unassisted goal. Musovski has already scored a career-high eight times this season. He had five goals with LAFC as a rookie in 2020 and five for Real Salt Lake in 2023.

Brunell subbed in for Jesús Ferreira in the 73rd minute and scored in the 85th. Defender Álex Roldán notched his third assist of the season and the fourth of his career. Rookie Kalani Kossa-Rienzi collected his third assist.

Andrew Thomas finished with three saves for his first clean sheet in his seventh start of the season for Seattle. He had two shutouts in five starts last season.

Novak Micovic saved five shots for the Galaxy. He had three saves and Thomas wasn’t tested in the first half.

Seattle is unbeaten in its last seven league matches at 4-0-3 and is on a 10-match unbeaten streak across all competitions after winning all three matches in Leagues Cup play.

Seattle leads the all-time series 15-11-14 in league play and 21-18-14 across all competitions.

The Sounders travel to play Minnesota United on Saturday. The Galaxy head to Florida to play Inter Miami on Saturday.

The Galaxy needed a regulation victory and win by at least two goals to qualify for the knockout-round quarterfinals of the Leagues Cup.

Mission accomplished.

Joseph Paintsil scored in the first minute and Matheus Nascimento tallied in the 39th minute to spark a 4-0 victory against overmatched Santos Laguna of Liga MX on Thursday night at Dignity Healthy Sports Park.

The Galaxy, which have endured a nightmarish season in MLS, played like a different team, setting the tempo early with Paintsil tucking in the ball at the right post thanks to an assist by Mauricio Cuevas.

The Galaxy struck again when a sliding Nascimento tapped in the ball past goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo off a long cross from Cuevas to make it 2-0.

In the 45th minute, Choco Lozano was shown his second yellow card to leave Santos Laguna short-handed.

Defender Maya Yoshida then added a goal during injury time to give the Galaxy a 3-0 advantage at the half. Yoshida collected a rebound after a long shot by Paintsil and buried it.

At the end of the first half, midfielder Ramiro Sordo was also shown a red card and Santos Laguna was left with nine players to open the second half.

Substitute Lucas Sanabria scored in the second half off a nice feed from Yoshida in the 74th minute for the Galaxy’s final goal.

The victory moved the Galaxy from the fifth seed among the MLS standings to the third seed, passing the Portland Timbers and No. 4 seed Orlando City.

The Leagues Cup quarterfinals — comprised of four MLS teams and four Liga MX teams — will be held Aug. 19-20. The Galaxy will take on Pachuca in the quarterfinal.

The rivalry between the old-school Galaxy and its upstart neighbor LAFC was once the best in MLS. The Galaxy traces its roots to the inception of the league while LAFC helped define its modern era, setting up a turf war so good, so competitive and so emotional, it had its own nickname.

Much of that drama had faded from El Tráfico in recent matches. But that changed Saturday when Maya Yoshida scored on the last touch of the game to give the Galaxy a 3-3 draw before a packed house of 22,301 at BMO Stadium.

And the teams didn’t limit their fight to the scoreboard. A tense shoving match broke out seconds into stoppage time, leading referee Guido Gonzalez Jr. to send off LAFC’s Eddie Segura with a red card while handing two yellow cards to the Galaxy and one to LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Galaxy and LAFC players get into a on-field scuffle during Saturday’s 3-3 draw at BMO Stadium.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

The most devastating punch, however, came from Yoshida, who was in the center of the shoving match. Minutes later his header off a cross from Mauricio Cuevas — his first goal and just his second shot on target of the season — capped a Galaxy comeback from a late 3-1 deficit.

Gabriel Pec had the other two goals for the Galaxy while Denis Bouanga scored twice for LAFC, whose other goal came from Javairo Dilrosun.

The draw gave the Galaxy (3-14-7) points in five of their last seven games, the team’s best stretch of the season. LAFC (10-5-6) is unbeaten in four straight and has lost just once in 14 league games since April 5. But the two points it lost on Yoshida’s goal dropped it to fifth in the Western Conference standings.

Bouanga’s fifth goal in six games gave LAFC the early lead in the 26th minute and, significantly, it was the first goal in that span that didn’t come from the penalty spot. It also gave him a goal in his last six games against the Galaxy.

LAFC star Denis Bouanga celebrates after scoring in the first half against the Galaxy on Saturday.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

Dilrosun doubled the lead with his second MLS goal on a counterattack five minutes later.

Pec halved the deficit for the Galaxy on a penalty kick less than 10 minutes before the intermission. That goal, set up by a Ryan Hollingshead hand ball in the box, snapped a 375-minute scoreless streak for LAFC.

Bouanga extended the LAFC lead on another counterattack set up by a Galaxy mistake in the 67th minute. Afterward, as the teams walked back to the center circle, Pec and Galaxy defender Emiro Garces, who was out of position on the breakaway, engaged in a heated argument.

Pec calmed down enough to get his fifth goal of the season, on a cross from Marco Reus, to pull his team closer in the 79th minute. The Galaxy then appeared to tie the score just before stoppage time, but Lloris made a spectacular kick save on Christian Ramirez while lying on his back on the goal line.

That set the stage for Yoshida, however, with the Galaxy captain slipping in front of Nkosi Tafari to redirect a glancing header inside the far post, earning the Galaxy a league result at BMO Stadium for the first time since August 2021, a game that also ended in a 3-3 draw.

The Galaxy have banned a fan from the Angel City Brigade support group following the July 4 match at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson. The team has also restricted access for other fans accused of harassing the MLS team’s management.

Bruce Martin, a 12-year Angel City Brigade member, was banned indefinitely for using a press credential to bring a banner into the stadium not authorized by the team, according to a letter sent to Martin informing him that he cannot attend any Galaxy games in Carson or any other events at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Fans from the same group have been suspended indefinitely for harassing members of Galaxy management, according to a person with knowledge of the decision not authorized to discuss it publicly.

During the home game against Vancouver, fans of the Angel City Brigade, founded in 2007, walked in with several banners protesting immigration raids in Southern California since June 6. Some of the protest banners blamed AEG, the owner of the Galaxy, for remaining quiet while fans were harmed by raids.

Angel City Brigade fans, traditionally located in Sections 121 and 122 of Galaxy’s stadium, left the game at the 12-minute mark in protest. Other groups, such as Galaxians, LA Riot Squad and Galaxy Outlawz, joined them by keeping quiet during the match.

“We have not issued a statement. We recognize the impact that recent events and actions have had on our community,” Galaxy spokesperson Jamie Álvarez said. “For decades, we have honored the rich backgrounds, cultures, and experiences of our fans and staff. Our purpose as a professional sports organization is to unite and support our community around a shared love of this sport. We are focusing on prioritizing the safety, well-being, and sense of belonging for our staff and for our fans.”

Members of the Angel City Brigade protest immigration raids by hoisting a tifo that reads “Fight Ignorance, Not Immigrants” over their fan section at the start of the Galaxy’s match against Vancouver on July 4 at Dignity Health Sports Park.

(Jill Connelly/Para LA Times en Español)

The Dodgers, another team with a large Latino fan base, were also criticized for not saying anything at the beginning of the raids and ultimately pledged to make a $1 million donation to families affected by the raids.

Martin, who last season released a book titled “This is Where My Heart Lies: Through the Eyes of a Supporter,” chronicling his passion as a Galaxy fan, revealed the letter on social media in which he is vetoed. Martin said he was heartbroken by the decision, but fans have supported him and his cause.

“A large percentage of the [Angel City Brigade] has canceled their season tickets,” Martin said. “There are a lot of fans around MLS who have reached out to me. It’s one of my favorite things about the soccer community — how close we are.”

The support from Angel City Brigade, Galaxians, LA Riot Squad, Galaxy Outlawz and other fan groups play a major role in making the Galaxy’s home field at Dignity Health Sports Park a fortress, a stadium where the team did not lose all of last regular season and where it won its sixth MLS title.

On July 12, fans also stopped chanting in protest of “the silence of the L.A. Galaxy” in the face of immigration raids.

“We recognize that the volume in the stadium is different,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said following the team’s game against D.C. United. “As I’ve said before, the fans have a right to take whatever stances they want and our job is to go out and try to win games. We want the fans to come, we want them to feel safe, we want them to feel like this is their club and the place they want to be, and we try to do our job on the field to help make that happen.”

The Galaxy approved the giant tifo used on July 4, which featured three Hispanic figures and a message that read, “Fight Ignorance, Not Immigrants.”

According to the team spokesperson, the club has had multiple discussions — before and after the July 4 game — in individual and small group meetings with leaders of Galaxy supporter groups to try to resolve the issue. The Galaxy works with community groups such as CARECEN [Central American Resource Center,] Heart of Los Angeles and All Peoples Community Center, among others.

This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.

Myrto Uzuni scored a goal in the 40th minute and added an assist, Owen Wolff scored his first goal of the season and Austin FC beat the Galaxy 2-1 on Wednesday night to snap the Galaxy’s three-game home win streak.

Brad Stuver had three saves and his ninth shutout — second in MLS behind Vancouver’s Yohei Takaoka (10) — this season for Austin (8-8-6).

Diego Rubio, on the counter-attack, played a ball-ahead to Uzuni, who cut back to evade a defender at the edge of the box and then blasted a shot inside the left post to open the scoring.

Uzuni misplayed a cross that was deflected but then beat three Galaxy players, including goalkeeper Novak Micovic, to the loose ball near the right post and tapped it to Wolff for the finish from the center of the area that made it 2-0 in the 63rd.

The Galaxy (3-14-6), the defending MLS Cup champion which had won back-to-back games for the first time this season, had its three-game unbeaten streak snapped.

Joseph Paintsil converted from the penalty spot in the third minute of stoppage time for the Galaxy. Micovic stopped two shots.

The Galaxy had 57% possession and outshot Austin 15-7.

Austin beat the Galaxy 1-0 on April 19.

Marco Reus and Diego Fagúndez scored goals and Galaxy defeated D.C. United 2-1 on Saturday night.

Reus scored in the 23rd minute with a right-footed shot from the right side of the box to the lower left-central zone and the Galaxy carried the 1-0 advantage into the halftime break.

The Galaxy outshot the United 13-11 overall and 5-3 on goal.

Fagúndez made it 2-0 for the Galaxy early in the second half when he scored with from the center of the box to the bottom left corner.

In the 77th minute, Gabriel Pirani got the United on the board, connecting from the center of the box to the bottom right corner.

Pirani’s goal was the first for the United (4-11-7) in four games. They are winless in their past five matches.

Novak Micovic had two saves for the Galaxy (3-13-6) and Luis Barraza had three saves for United.

The Los Angeles sports world mourned the loss of one of its most beloved voices, Rolando “El Veloz” Gonzalez, the longtime Galaxy broadcaster and a pioneer of Spanish-language sports radio, who died June 25.

His legacy transcends generations on the microphone.

Gonzalez’s career began almost accidentally. Although his dream was to play soccer, life had other plans for him and turned him into a storyteller.

“One day on March 6, 1962, I was playing soccer in the local league and the radio play-by-play broadcaster who was assigned that game of my team Escuintla against Universidad, Dr. Otorrino Ríos Paredes, had a car accident,” Gonzalez recalled in 2017. “The owner of the station ran to tell me, ‘[get dressed, get dressed]’ and I replied, ‘Who are you to tell me to get dressed? Let the trainer tell me.’ He said, ‘I need you because they told me that you narrate soccer.’ I replied that I do that there among the guys.”

He later moved to Los Angeles, where former Dodgers announcer Jaime Jarrín gave him his big break during the 1984 Olympics.

“I met him, I think in 1984, shortly before the Olympics. I needed sportswriters for Spanish-language coverage and I was impressed with his stability, his knowledge, his diction and his voice time for soccer,” Jarrín told L.A. Times en Español. “He worked with me for three weeks, and that opened a lot of doors for him in Los Angeles.”

Jarrín’s call surprised him.

Friends and colleagues join Rolando “El Veloz” González, center, in a broadcast booth during a Galaxy match. He called his last game on May 31.

(Armando Aguayo)

“It was Jaime Jarrín,” González recalled. “He asked me if I narrated soccer and if I had experience in programs. He told me that a narrator for the Olympics was coming from Ecuador and he wanted to have [González ] from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. on a program. I was leaving the factory at 4:30 p.m. all dirty with paint, and I couldn’t miss that opportunity.”

Jarrín highlights González’s commitment to ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 AM’s coverage of the Galaxy, a team González covered in two long stints in which the team won five of the six MLS Cup titles. The last game González called a game was on May 31, when the Galaxy won their first game of this season against Real Salt Lake at Dignity Health Sports Park.

“He gave his all to the team, as I did to the Dodgers,” Jarrín said. “His legacy is an example for young people. He defined what he wanted to be, and he did it with his heart, with 110% effort.”

Along with Hipolito Gamboa, González marked an era in radio with their “Hablando de Deportes” show on KTNQ-AM (1020) and eventually on KWKW-AM (1330). The show focused mostly on soccer and easily overshadowed other sports programs that tried to copy the format with a more aggressive touch in their conversations.

The González and Gamboa duo presented a more complete analysis without being dependent on fireworks.

“I always had something that made you laugh in the booths of ‘Hablando de Deportes,’” Gamboa said. “It was not all good all the time, because there were moments of tension. That’s a reality, but we always ended well.”

Gamboa described González as someone out of the ordinary.

“He was one of the first to broadcast soccer in the United States. His unique style, his energy, his speed … no one has equaled him,” Gamboa said. “That’s why they called him ‘El Veloz’ [‘The Swift’].”

They worked together broadcasting Gold Cups, Liga MX matches and international matches. Despite his serious voice, Gamboa highlighted González’s cheerful character.

“He narrated with impressive clarity at an amazing speed. People recognized him by his voice,” Gamboa said. “At a party, my little daughter, just 1 year old at the time, heard him speak and said, ‘Goal!’ because we grew up hearing him narrate at the Rose Bowl, at Azteca Stadium, in so many booths.”

Armando Aguayo, who became González’s boss, said he was more than a colleague.

“He was my teacher. What I know about narration, I learned from him,” Aguayo said. “He taught me how to get into the narrator’s rhythm, not to interrupt, to adapt to his speed. He was demanding, but formative.”

Aguayo fondly recalls the two stages he shared with González, first as his producer at “Deportes en Acción 1330” and then as teammates in the second golden era of the Galaxy under Bruce Arena.

Armando Aguayo, who became Rolando González’s boss, said he was more than a colleague: “He taught me how to get into the narrator’s rhythm, not to interrupt, to adapt to his speed. He was demanding, but formative.”

(Armando Aguayo)

“We narrated together the finals, the titles, the big games,” Aguayo said. “And off the air, we talked about family, about the future of radio, about life.”

According to Aguayo, who calls LAFC and Clippers games, González had admirable discipline.

“He would arrive an hour early, prepare, make lists with lineups,” Aguayo said.

During his career González, called World Cups, Olympic Games, Pan American Games, games of his beloved Guatemala national team, as well as the U.S. national team. He covered soccer, baseball, basketball and football.

“The only thing he didn’t narrate was golf, because he said it bored him,” Aguayo said, laughing. “But he even narrated a marbles contest in Guatemala.”

González was known as a great storyteller.

“He would always say, ‘Let me tell you, in such-and-such a year … and he would give you exact dates.’ He was a historian with a storyteller’s voice,” Aguayo said.

Beyond professionalism, Gonzalez left a deep human imprint.

“We called him ‘Don Rolis’ [and] ‘Papa Smurf.’ He was like everybody’s dad. Always with a kind comment, always concerned about others,” Aguayo recalled.

Rolando González, left, joins Armando Aguayo while calling a Galaxy game.

(Armando Aguayo)

González was still active until a few weeks ago. He called the Galaxy’s last game against Real Salt Lake.

“He arrived two hours early, prepared his tecito, sat down to narrate and when he finished, he got up and left, as usual,” Aguayo said. “That was Rolando. Professional, punctual and simple.”

Aguayo spoke with González shortly before hearing the news of his death. Although González recently had a heart attack, he was still answering calls, his voice tired but upbeat.

“He told me, ‘I’m fine. Thank you for your call. It’s very helpful to me. You’re one of the few who called me.’ He told me about the future, about his family,” Aguayo said. “Even in his last days, he was thinking of others.”

For Jarrín, González represented the image of the hard-working immigrant, the passionate communicator, the dedicated professional.

“He never caused problems. He always served the Hispanic community in Southern California with interest. His voice will remain engraved in our memories, and his legacy will live on in every young person who wants to dedicate themselves to sports broadcasting,” Jarrín said.

González’s voice will no longer resonate in the stadiums, but his echo will live on in the memories of his colleagues and in the passion of those who listened to him.

“I was deeply hurt by his passing, because we were great friends,” Jarrín said. “We had a lot of mutual respect, and I liked him very much from the beginning because of his simplicity and his responsibility in everything. So I think that sports fans, and particularly soccer fans, will miss him very much. … He served the Hispanic community in Southern California with a lot of interest, with a lot of enthusiasm. And I will miss him very, very much indeed.”

This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.

Gloria Jiménez and Bruce Martin, leaders of a Galaxy supporter group called the Angel City Brigade, are certain this is no time to be quiet.

Since its founding in 2007, the Angel City Brigade, one of the Galaxy’s largest fan groups, has made its voice heard in sections 121 and 122 of Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson.

On Friday, during the typically festive Fourth of July fireworks game, Galaxy supporter groups decided to express their frustration and anger over seeing Southern California’s Latino community targeted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in recent weeks.

The fans say they are upset by the Galaxy management’s silence amid ICE’s presence in the Latino community. The majority of Galaxy fans are Latino, but the team has not issued any statements in support of fans, remaining as quiet as the Dodgers until the MLB team felt pressure and made a $1 million donation to benefit families impacted by the raids.

The Galaxy and representatives of the teams’ supporter groups have held closed-door talks, but it didn’t lead to a public statements by the club. Before the match against the Whitecaps on Thursday outside Dignity Health Sports Park, Angel City Brigade displayed signs that read “Stop the Raids,” “Free Soil” and “No One is Illegal.

At the end of the national anthem, “Victoria Block,” the section where most of the Galaxy’s fan groups stand, unfurled a tifo with three images: a farm worker; Roy Benavidez, a U.S. Army Medal of Honor recipient; and Elena Rios, president of the National Hispanic Health Foundation. At the bottom, the banner read: “Fight Ignorance, Not Immigrants.”

Members of the Angel City Brigade, including Gloria Jiménez, center, protest ICE raids in Southern California during the Galaxy’s game against Vancouver on Friday at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson.

(Jill Connelly/Especial para LA Times en Español)

During the 12th minute of the match, the Angel City Brigade left the stands in protest. Supporter groups the Galaxians and Galaxy Outlawz protested silently, carrying no drums or trumpets. They also did not sing or chant during the game.

“What’s going on in Los Angeles has nothing to do with the players. They know that. What’s going on in Los Angeles we don’t like,” Manuel Martínez, leader of the Galaxy Outlawz, said before the match. “I belong to a family of immigrants who became citizens. So we know the struggle that people go through. We know that there are hard working, innocent workers out there.”

The Riot Squad, on the other side of the stadium, also remained silent during and displayed a message that read: “We like our Whiskey Neat, and our Land and People Free.”

Members of the Angel City Brigade hold up a sign that reads “Smash Ice” during the Galaxy’s match against Vancouver on Friday at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson.

(Jill Connelly/Especial para LA Times en Español)

This is not the first time Galaxy fan groups have taken action when they were unhappy team management.

Angel City Brigade, along with other groups such as LA Riot Squad, Galaxy Outlawz and the Galaxians, led boycott while demanding the removal of then-team president Chris Klein following mismanagement and decisions they felt didn’t make the team competitive enough to win. Their effort paid off: Klein stepped down and new management eventually led the club to its sixth MLS championship secured at the end of last season.

On Friday, in addition to issuing a statement reaffirming their “non-discriminatory principles, which oppose exclusion and prejudice based on race, origin, gender identity, sexuality or gender expression,” the fans decided to organize a fundraiser to support pro-immigrant organizations affected by the Trump administration’s budget cuts: Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), Border Kindness and Immigrant Defenders Law Center.

To raise funds, they sold T-shirts with an image of a protester in Chinatown confronting an ICE agent.

“This is our way of showing that we want to help, and to fight what’s going on,” said Martin, a Los Angeles native.

The T-shirt sales raised $4,000 for the three organizations.

Previously, Angel City Brigade, like other Galaxy supporter groups, decided not to travel to the June 28 road match against the Earthquakes in San José as a precaution against the raids. About 600 Galaxy fans typically attend the road match.

“We have members who have not been able to work. We have members who have not been able to, go out to games or attend events. San José would have been one of them,” Jiménez said. “We decided that as a group, we couldn’t travel without leaving our brothers and sisters here. So in solidarity with the people who can’t attend because of fear of what’s going on, we decided to cancel the event.”

While the other two professional soccer teams in Los Angeles — LAFC and Angel City FC — have issued public statements in support of the Latino immigrant community, the Galaxy’s ownership has not addressed the issue. Angel City took its support further, wearing “Immigrant City Football Club” warm-up shirts, giving some shirts away to fans and selling more on its website as a fundraiser to support an organization that provides legal support for immigrants.

So far, the only member of the Galaxy who has addressed the issue publicly is head coach Greg Vanney.

“I think we all know someone who is probably affected by what’s going on, so it’s hard from a human standpoint not to have compassion for the families and those who are affected by what’s going on,” Vanney said prior to a game against St. Louis City SC in June.

“We have to really help each other, versus expecting others to do it,” Jiménez said. “That the support didn’t come from our team, as we expected, broke our hearts into a thousand pieces.”

In the past, the Galaxy and supporter groups have collaborated while celebrating various Latin American countries, incorporating their cultural symbols into team merchandise. But amid the Galaxy’s silence, fans are starting to doubt the sincerity of the cultural celebrations.

“It’s sad and disappointing to me. This team that has been in Los Angeles since the mid-1990s, and they’ve leveraged the culture for publicity. When they signed [Mexican soccer star] Chicharito for example, they were strong on Mexican culture and things like that. So when this all started, you would think that they would be for their culture, that they would be there for the fans,” Jiménez said. “And by not saying anything, it doesn’t say that they really care about it. Families are being torn apart and they just stay silent.”

Jiménez said there isn’t a day that goes by that she doesn’t cry or feel anger about the ICE raids.

“We already know what we are to them, we are not friends or family,” she said of the Galaxy. “We are fans and franchise.”

Martin said he has received messages on social media, including from Galaxy fans and supporters of other teams, criticizing his stance. However, Angel City Brigade said its members made a unanimous decision to protest.

“We have always had moments where we have a very clear vision about how we feel,” Jiménez said. “And I think this is one of the times when everyone has made the same decision.”

Galaxy fans plan to stage more protests during the team’s next home match.

This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.

Joseph Paintsil had two goals, Matheus Nascimento also scored a goal and the Galaxy beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-0 on Friday night to snap a three-game winless streak.

The Galaxy (2-13-6), the defending MLS Cup champion, won for the first time since it beat Real Salt Lake 2-0 on May 31 to snap a 16-game winless streak to open the season. The Galaxy went into the game with 13 points, fewest in all of MLS.

The Whitecaps (11-4-5) have lost three of their last four. Vancouver is second in the Western Conference with 38 points, behind San Diego (39).

Edwin Cerrillo flicked a shot from 30 yards outs that was deflected by goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka and Nascimento put away the rebound with a first-touch finish to open the scoring in the second minute.

Paintsil made it 2-0 in the 60th. Gabriel Pec played an long arcing ball to the top of the penalty box, where Marco Reus tapped a first-touch pass to a wide-open Paintsil, who calmly flicked a shot inside the back post from the left side of the area.

Paintsil converted from the penalty spot in the 77th minute for his first career multi-goal game. The 27-year-old forward has three goals and one assist this season after he finished with 10 goals and 10 assists last season, his first in MLS.

Takaoka had five saves for Vancouver. Jayden Nelson was shown a yellow card in the 55th minute and another in stoppage time as the Whitecaps played a man down for the final few minutes.

Novak Micovic had a save for LA. The Galaxy had 55% possession and outshot Vancouver 12-6, 8-1 on target.

The Whitecaps beat the Galaxy 2-1 at home on March 2.