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MLS LA Galaxy

LA Galaxy Defeat San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 at PayPal Park on Saturday Night

March 3, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
LA Galaxy News Release


SAN JOSE, Calif. - Playing their first road match of the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy earned a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes at PayPal Park on Saturday night. Dejan Joveljić and Joseph Paintsil both tallied a goal and an assist, while Riqui Puig scored his first goal of the season and Mark Delgado notched two assists in the road win over San Jose.

LA Galaxy Against San Jose Earthquakes

Saturday's match marked the 99th edition across all competitions of the Cali Clásico between the Galaxy and the San Jose Earthquakes, with LA leading the all-time series 47-33-19. In 44 all-time regular-season matches played on the road against the Earthquakes, the Galaxy hold a 15-18-11 record. Notably, LA is unbeaten in its last five matches played (4-0-1, 16 GF, 8 GA) on the road against San Jose dating back to June 26, 2021.

Goal-Scoring Plays

LA - Joseph Paintsil (Mark Delgado), 18th minute: Joseph Paintsil released Mark Delgado down the right flank. Delgado spotted a darting run into the box by Paintsil, who took a touch before rifling his left-footed shot into the top corner of the goal.

LA - Dejan Joveljić (Joseph Paintsil, Mark Delgado), 43rd minute: Mark Delgado played Joseph Paintsil in behind the San Jose defense. Paintsil squared a pass across the top of the six-yard box that was drilled in by Dejan Joveljić.

LA - Riqui Puig (Dejan Joveljić, Diego Fagundez), 48th minute: Miki Yamane delivered a ball down the right side to Diego Fagundez, who quickly laid the ball off to Dejan Joveljić towards the end line. Joveljić cut a pass back towards the middle of the penalty area to Riqui Puig, who powered his shot into the roof of the net.

SJ - Preston Judd (Bruno Wilson), 69th minute: Preston Judd was first to a deflection inside the penalty area and converted his shot from close range.

Postgame Notes

Saturday's match marked the 99th edition across all competitions of the Cali Clásico between the Galaxy and the San Jose Earthquakes, with LA leading the all-time series 47-33-19.

Against San Jose, LA holds a 38-28-17 record in league play, a 4-1-1 record in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and a 5-4-1 record in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Notably, LA is unbeaten in its last five matches played (4-0-1, 16 GF, 8 GA) on the road against San Jose dating back to June 26, 2021.

Joseph Paintsil notched a goal and an assist in his first-ever road match for the Galaxy.

Riqui Puig recorded his first goal of the 2024 campaign, completed 97 of 115 passes (84.3%) and made a game-high 128 touches.

Mark Delgado finished the match with two assists, 45 of 49 completed passes (91.8%), seven of nine duels won, four possessions won and was tied for a team-high three interceptions.

In seven career regular-season matches played (4 starts) against San Jose, LA Galaxy forward Dejan Joveljić has tallied five goals and one assist.

In five regular-season matches played dating back to Oct. 7, 2023, Joveljić has recorded four goals and two assists.

Gastón Brugman and Jonathan Pérez both made their 2024 debuts, appearing in the match as second-half substitutes.

Diego Fagundez recorded his 72nd career assist in his 360th MLS Regular Season appearance in the match against San Jose.

The LA Galaxy improved to 1-0-0 this season when wearing the LA Kit. In six matches played in the LA Kit during the 2023 campaign, the LA Galaxy held a 2-1-3 record.

Next Game

Next up, the LA Galaxy travel to face Nashville SC at GEODIS Park on Sunday, March 10 (12:00 p.m. PT; MLS Season Pass).

2024 MLS Regular Season

LA Galaxy (1-0-1, 4pts) at San Jose Earthquakes (0-2-0, 0pts)

Saturday, March 2, 2024 - PayPal Park (San Jose, Calif.)

Goals by Half 1 2 F

LA Galaxy 2 1 3

San Jose Earthquakes 0 1 1

Scoring Summary:

LA: Paintsil (Delgado), 18

LA: Joveljić (Paintsil, Delgado), 44

LA: Puig (Joveljić, Fagundez), 48

Misconduct Summary:

LA: Delgado (caution), 29

SJ: Akapo (caution), 35

SJ: Judd (caution), 74

LA: Brugman (caution), 90+3

Lineups:

LA: GK John McCarthy; D Miki Yamane, D Maya Yoshida ©, D Martín Cáceres, D Julián Aude (John Nelson, 71); M Mark Delgado (Gastón Brugman, 71), M Edwin Cerrillo, M Riqui Puig, F Diego Fagundez (Jonathan Pérez, 90), F Joseph Paintsil (Gabriel Pec, 63), F Dejan Joveljić (Miguel Berry, 63)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Novak Mićović; D Mauricio Cuevas, D Eriq Zavaleta; M Daniel Aguirre

TOTAL SHOTS: 6 (Joseph Paintsil, Riqui Puig, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Joseph Paintsil, Riqui Puig, 2); FOULS: 8 (Miguel Berry, Joseph Paintsil, 2); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 2

SJ: GK Daniel; D Paul Marie, D Tanner Beason (Bruno Wilson, 55), D Rodrigues, D Carlos Akapo (Vitor Costa, 45); M Carlos Gruezo, M Jackson Yueill ©, M Jack Skahan (Preston Judd, 55); F Amahl Pellegrino (Ousseni Bouda, 76), F Cristian Espinoza, F Jeremy Ebobisse (Benji Kikanovic, 63)

Substitutes Not Used: GK William Yarbrough; M Alfredo Morales, M Michael Baldisimo

TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Preston Judd, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Three players tied, 1); FOULS: 18 (Paul Marie, 6); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 10; SAVES: 3

Referee: Cristian Campo Hernandez

Assistant Referees: Fevzi Demirhan, Clarence Clark

Fourth Official: Felix Granados

VAR: Alan Kelly

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 59 degrees

Attendance: 18,000

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

Postgame Media Assets

LA Galaxy postgame soundbites from media availability and match photos can be accessed when ready below.

SOUNDBYTES: https://mlssoccer.box.com/s/7ui01vep0e1022j45gjgyiq7t22475cc

LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney (English)

LA Galaxy Forward Dejan Joveljić (English)

LA Galaxy Forward Joseph Paintsil (English)

*Please credit LA Galaxy for any use

PHOTOS: https://mlssoccer.box.com/s/7ui01vep0e1022j45gjgyiq7t22475cc

*Please credit LA Galaxy for any use

LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY

On his general thoughts on the game and what Joseph Paintsil brough to the team:

"I was very pleased with the work of the guys. I thought especially for a first game and a season and then a number of guys. We probably had between Dejan [Joveljić], Riqui [Puig], obviously Joseph [Paintsil] - those guys didn't get much time in preseason either, so they came out. I thought everyone, but I thought they were very good. Trying to get in sync in terms of organizing a press and how to get pressure to them was going to be tough just because, again, those guys haven't had much time on the field together. I thought we did a really nice job of just condensing the field, making it difficult for them. From a defensive standpoint, I thought the back line, everybody stood tall for a lot of the game. John made a couple of big saves, which you're going to have to make against a team like this. With the quality that they have, you have to make a save. I thought we left a few opportunities on the table. That probably can be the difference when you are playing a team with the quality that they have. You have to finish your chances for sure when you get those opportunities. I'm really proud of the group. I look forward because I see what this team is capable of even on a night like tonight, and knowing the guys are still coming together and getting healthy and all that kind of stuff, I really am excited about the group we have."

On where does this win rank after a comprehensive performance:

"It's so hard to say. What's nice is we came off of a good performance last week at home against a good team in Miami. Then we backed it up again with a good performance tonight, a good road performance. So what I take away from it is just the consistency that we have been able to put together in a very short amount of time with this season, a home game and then having a road game and playing at a consistent level, showing a consistent threat on the attacking side. I think last week was three and a half and then we put in three this week. This team is going to continue to get better. It's going to continue to grow together. Guys are going to continue to get used to the nuances that each of them brings to the group and so this win, it's just important to get the first one under our belt, too. Last year it took us a while to get the first one and it felt like with everything going on, the pressure just kept mounting on the team. So to get the first win and the first three points under your belt, it builds momentum early in the season, which is precious in our league. Like I said to the guys, keep building off of this. We've got to go to another difficult place next week and play and try to build off these two performances and try to take something from that one, as well."

LA GALAXY FORWARD JOSEPH PAINTSIL

On scoring his first goal for the LA Galaxy in a rivalry match:

"IFor me, I never knew, because I never knew it was Clásico. But for me, it not something that's really like a pressure thing. So for me, I'm really happy that I score my first goal, it really means a lot to me, and also because my sister and my mom told me I would score today and just keep faith, and the moment just happened, I think about them. So I want to say a big thank you to them and the fans and everybody."

On playing with Riqui Puig:

"Yeah, even though I'm not on the club for so long, but football is all about how you play, how you decide, what you need to do Riqui is such a wonderful player that always look up to those kind of passes and everything. So me playing alongside Riqui is a great connection, and as you can see, it's like we've played almost a season before, and yeah, so playing alongside Riqui is a great thing for me and for him, and his style of play is really going to help me a lot with my pace and also to give me the ball."

On the LA Galaxy playing with a killer instinct this season:

"Yeah, for me, that's the number one thing. Even in training, I always want to be on my game. Even if the team isn't going well, we always try to solve things as a team because we have a good group, a young group, also, as you can see. We keep the ball a lot in the game. And yeah, it's really a good thing. As you can see, the players are also really hungry for success. We did everything together and if we keep playing like this, we are really going to kill a lot of clubs, a lot of clubs, trust me."

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