LA Galaxy Forward Joseph Paintsil Named MLS Player of the Matchday Presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchdays 36 and 37
MLS LA Galaxy

LA Galaxy Forward Joseph Paintsil Named MLS Player of the Matchday Presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchdays 36 and 37

Published on September 29, 2025 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
LA Galaxy News Release


NEW YORK - LA Galaxy forward Joseph Paintsil was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchdays 36 and 37 of the 2025 MLS season.

Paintsil scored three goals and added an assist in the LA Galaxy's 4-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night (Watch Highlights From His Performance Here). All three of Paintsil's goals came in the first half and the Ghanaian international became just the third player in club history to produce a first-half hat trick, joining Robbie Keane (May 26, 2013) and Alejandro Moreno (May 19, 2004). The performance was Paintsil's first MLS hat trick and the 28th regular season hat trick in Galaxy history. Despite missing multiple games due to injury this season, Paintsil is now up to nine goals and five assists in the 2025 regular season.

Paintsil opened the scoring just four minutes into the match when he received the ball in the 18-yard box after an intricately worked corner kick and curled his effort around a Kansas City defender and into the side netting. He scored his second goal of the night in the 25th minute as he latched onto a loose ball in the box and tapped home from close range. After Kansas City cut the deficit in half, Paintsil completed his first-half hat trick in the 43rd minute when Mauricio Cuevas found a wide-open Paintsil on the back post for an easy finish. In the 60th minute, he added an assist on Diego Fagúndez's 78th career regular season goal.

This is the first time in his career that Paintsil has been named MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra and he joins Marco Reus (Matchday 14) as the Galaxy players to win the award this season. Paintsil is the first Ghanaian player to earn the honor since David Accam did so on Matchday 4 of the 2019 season for the Philadelphia Union.

Next up for the Galaxy is an opportunity to earn a trophy when they host LIGA MX champions Toluca at Dignity Health Sports Park in the 2025 Michelob Ultra Campeones Cup. The match will be on Wednesday, October 1 (10:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV), and it marks the seventh edition of the annual competition that pits the reigning MLS Cup champion against the reigning LIGA MX champion.

The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while an Instagram fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.

2025 MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra Winners

Matchday Player Club

Matchday 1 Anders Dreyer San Diego FC

Matchday 2 Tai Baribo Philadelphia Union

Matchday 3 Roman Bürki St. Louis CITY SC

Matchday 4 Tani Oluwaseyi Minnesota United FC

Matchday 5 Pep Biel Charlotte FC

Matchday 6 Djordje Mihailovic Colorado Rapids

Matchday 7 Josef Martínez San Jose Earthquakes

Matchday 8 Brian White Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Matchday 9 Dániel Sallói Sporting Kansas City

Matchday 10 Sam Surridge Nashville SC

Matchday 11 Hirving "Chucky" Lozano San Diego FC

Matchday 12 Emil Forsberg New York Red Bulls

Matchday 13 Tai Baribo (2) Philadelphia Union

Matchday 14 Marco Reus LA Galaxy

Matchday 15 Patrick Agyemang Charlotte FC

Matchday 16 Lionel Messi Inter Miami CF

Matchday 17 Lionel Messi (2) Inter Miami CF

Matchday 18 Tom Barlow Chicago Fire FC

Matchday 19 João Klauss St. Louis CITY SC

Matchday 20 Milan Iloski San Diego FC

Matchday 21 Evander FC Cincinnati

Matchday 22 Lionel Messi (3) Inter Miami CF

Matchday 23 and 24 Lionel Messi (4) Inter Miami CF

Matchday 25 Evander (2) FC Cincinnati

Matchday 26 Lionel Messi (5) Inter Miami CF

Matchday 27 Alonso Martínez New York City FC

Matchday 28 Luis Muriel Orlando City SC

Matchday 29 Rafael Navarro Colorado Rapids

Matchday 30 Danny Musovski Seattle Sounders FC

Matchday 31 Anders Dreyer (2) San Diego FC

Matchday 32 Jacob Jackson FC Dallas

Matchday 33 Thomas Müller Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Matchday 34 Son Heung-Min LAFC

Matchday 35 Denis Bouanga LAFC

Matchday 36 and 37 Joseph Paintsil LA Galaxy

Check out the LA Galaxy Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Major League Soccer Stories from September 29, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central