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Leo Walta scored the tying goal in the 62nd minute, and LAFC clinched a playoff spot by rallying from two goals down in the second half for a 2-2 draw with the Galaxy on Sunday night.

Joseph Paintsil scored his first two goals since August as the Galaxy hung on impressively for a point, but endangered their own playoff hopes by blowing the lead in another thrilling El Tráfico derby.

The final seconds of injury time were breathtaking: Galaxy goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski and defender Justin Haak both made spectacular stops on LAFC chances before Denis Bouanga scored on a redirection of Tyler Boyd‘s bicycle kick — only for the play to be ruled offside.

Bouanga scored the first goal for LAFC, which is headed to the MLS playoffs for the eighth time in its nine seasons of existence. LAFC is currently sixth in the Western Conference standings, while the Galaxy sit ninth.

The El Tráfico series remains even at 10 wins and 10 losses apiece with eight draws.

LAFC has produced one win and three draws from four matches since interim head coach Xavi Tamarit took over for the fired Marc Dos Santos on Oct. 1.

Son Heung-min thought he had scored on a rebound of Bouanga’s shot midway through the first half, but the play was ruled offside and confirmed by a lengthy video review. Moments later, the Galaxy’s Robert Taylor intercepted a pass and set up Paintsil to hammer home his first goal in a competitive match since Aug. 19.

Paintsil doubled the Galaxy’s lead in the 51st minute when Hugo Lloris spilled a rebound directly to him. LAFC fans threw drinks at the celebrating Galaxy players after both of their goals.

But just two minutes later, LAFC’s Armindo Sieb ripped a shot off a counterattack and Bouanga chipped home the rebound for his 18th goal in 30 MLS matches this season.

LAFC remained on the attack and tied it when Emiro Garces’ defensive misplay allowed Walta to score his second goal in the Finnish international’s four matches with the club.

The Galaxy played without star German midfielder Marco Reus, a late scratch due to illness. Striker Hirving “Chucky” Lozano is also out with a hamstring injury that occurred during international duty with Mexico.

Beacham writes for the Associated Press.

Gabriel Pirani scored the equalizer in a four-goal first half to help the Galaxy earn a 2-2 draw with San Diego FC on Saturday night.

The Galaxy (10-11-10) jumped in front in the fourth minute when Sergi Roberto set up João Klauss for his ninth goal in 14 appearances this season.

Anders Dreyer pulled San Diego (8-12-10) even in the 10th minute when he scored on a penalty kick. Dreyer’s 13th goal of the season came after Cédric Bakambu was fouled by Galaxy goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski.

The Galaxy regained the lead seven minutes later when Erik Thommy used assists from Harbor Miller and Marco Reus to score for the second time this season.

Pirani netted the equalizer in the 39th minute to cap the scoring. It was the midfielder’s fourth goal in 10 matches this season.

Marcinkowski finished with five saves for the Galaxy, who have gone 4-2-2 since the start of September.

Pablo Sisniega saved seven shots in his second start this season for San Diego, which beat the Galaxy 3-1 at home to close out August but hasn’t won since — going 0-4-4.

Up next for the Galaxy: at LAFC on Oct. 26.

Marco Reus had a goal and an assist to back JT Marcinkowski and the Galaxy beat the Portland Timbers 2-0 on Wednesday night at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Reus staked the Galaxy (10-11-9) to a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute when he used assists from Robert Taylor and Pablo Ruiz to score his eighth goal of the campaign.

That’s where the score stood until Reus set up up Justin Haak in the 80th minute for his second goal this season and his fourth in 110 matches. It was the career-high 11th assist for Reus.

Marcinkowski finished with five saves for the Galaxy. It was his fourth clean sheet in 24 starts this season.

James Pantemis stopped three shots for Portland (9-14-6).

The clubs played to a 1-1 draw in Portland to close out March.

The Galaxy improved to 6-4-5 at home, while the Timbers fall to 2-10-3 on the road.

Portland has gone 1-4-2 since the start of September.

Carlo Holse scored three goals in the first 21 minutes and had the second hat trick in club history to help St. Louis City beat the Galaxy 6-2 on Sunday night to extend their unbeaten streak across all competitions to 20 games and tie the MLS record.

St. Louis, which is 13-0-5 in its past 18 regular-season games, tied the mark set when the New York Red Bulls went unbeaten in an MLS-record 20 consecutive games across all competitions in 2016.

Rafael Navarro converted from the penalty spot in the 45th minute, scored again in the 53rd and added two assists for St. Louis (14-6-8). Lukas MacNaughton scored on a diving header in the seventh minute of first-half stoppage time and Roman Burki had five saves.

Holse opened the scoring in the second minute, added a goal in the seventh and skipped a shot inside the right post from the center of the area to make it 3-0 in the 21st minute to record the second-fastest hat trick in MLS history. Hany Mukhtar scored three goals for Nashville in the first 16 minutes of 5-1 win over Chicago on July 17, 2021.

The Galaxy’s Kyogo Furuhashi went off because of an apparent hamstring injury and was replaced in the 10th minute by João Klauss, whose goal in the 71st minute capped the scoring. Klauss, a 29-year-old midfielder in his first season with the Galaxy, had St. Louis City’s first hat trick in a 3-3 tie with the Galaxy on June 14, 2025.

Robert Taylor scored in the 31st minute for the Galaxy (9-11-9).

St. Louis beat the Galaxy 3-1 on July 22 at Dignity Health Sports Park.