Pec Continues CCC Tear, LA Galaxy Drop Leg One in Toluca
MLS LA Galaxy

Pec Continues CCC Tear, LA Galaxy Drop Leg One in Toluca

Published on April 9, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
LA Galaxy News Release


TOLUCA - The LA Galaxy fell 4-2 to Deportivo Toluca FC in the first leg of the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup Quarterfinal at Estadio Nemesio Díez in Toluca, Mexico. After Toluca led by two at the break, the second half saw goals traded between the sides, with LA and Toluca alternating strikes as the hosts ultimately secured the win. Despite the result, goals from Marco Reus and Gabriel Pec give the Galaxy two vital away goals going into the second leg.

Goalscoring Plays

TOL - Nicolás Castro (Federico Pereira), 12th minute: Pereira lofted a long ball over the Galaxy backline to Castro, who took a touch and found the back of the net to give Toluca a 1-0 lead.

TOL - Paulinho Dias (Jesús Ángulo), 43rd minute: After a chance at the other end, Toluca launched a counterattack that saw Ángulo square the ball across the box for Dias, who finished to double Toluca's lead.

LA - Gabriel Pec (Marco Reus), 66th minute: Reus drove forward through midfield into the final third before slipping a pass in behind for Pec, whose rightfooted effort from a tight angle on the right side beat the Toluca goalkeeper to pull one back for LA.

TOL - Paulinho Dias, 73rd minute: Toluca worked the ball into the box with a series of quick passes, and although Yamane initially disrupted the play, the ball fell to Dias, who restored Toluca's twogoal lead.

LA - Marco Reus (Julián Aude), 77th minute: Aude forced a turnover in the Toluca box with high pressure and picked out Reus in the center, who nudged the ball into the net.

TOL - Paulinho Dias, 86th minute: After the Galaxy stopped the initial attack from Toluca, a clearance from Garcés ricocheted off Dias and into the goal to give the hosts a 4-2 lead.

Postgame Notes

Gabriel Pec scored his sixth goal in the Concacaf Champions Cup and his sixth in the past three CCC matches combined. The Brazilian forward leads all players in the competition in goals scored.

With his start against Toluca tonight, Maya Yoshida made the 700th appearance of his professional career for clubs and country across all competitions.

Marco Reus recorded a goal and an assist in the second half, giving him five goal contributions in his last five games.

The Estadio Nemesio Díez in Toluca, Mexico sits at over 8,700 feet of altitude, an added challenge for the Galaxy in tonight's match.

Next Up

In a quick turnaround, the LA Galaxy return to league play in three short days for a battle against Austin FC at Q2 Stadium on Saturday, April 11 (11:30 a.m. PT, FOX/Apple TV). Then, the Galaxy host Deportivo Toluca FC in the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday, April 15 (6 p.m. PT, FS2/TUDN) at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Match Information

Match: LA Galaxy at Deportivo Toluca FC

Date: April 8, 2026

Venue: Estadio Nemesio Díez in Toluca, Mexico

Weather: Cloudy and 57°F

Scoring Summary 1 2 F

Toluca 2 2 4

LA Galaxy 0 2 2

TOL: Nicolás Castro (Federico Pereira), 12'

TOL: Paulinho Dias (Jesús Angulo), 43'

LA: Gabriel Pec (Marco Reus), 66'

TOL: Paulinho Dias, 73'

LA: Marco Reus (Julián Aude), 77'

TOL: Paulinho Dias, 86'

Lineups

LA Galaxy: GK JT Marcinkowski; D John Nelson (Julián Aude, 72') D Maya Yoshida, D Emiro Garcés, D Miki Yamane (Mauricio Cuevas, 79'); M Edwin Cerrillo, M Elijah Wynder (Marco Reus, 58'), M Erik Thommy (Lucas Sanabria, 80'); F Harbor Miller (Justin Haak, 59'), F Gabriel Pec, F João Klauss

Substitutes not used: Brady Scott, Novak Mićović, Chris Rindov, Troy Elgersma, Isaiah Parente, Ruben Ramos Jr., Julian Placias

Deportivo Toluca FC: GK Luis Garcia; D Jesús Gallardo (Mauricio Isais, 84), D Federico Pereira (Luan Garcia, 45+1), D Bruno Mendez, D Simon Santiago (Diego Barbosa, 84); M Franco Romero, M Nicolas Castro, M Alexis Vega (Franco Rossi, 84), M Jesús Angulo, M Helio Nunes (Everardo Lopez, 70'); F Paulinho Dias

Substitutes not used: Hugo Gonzalez, Antonio Briseño, Sebastián Córdova, Pavel Perez, Oswaldo Virgen, Fernando Arce, Victor Arteaga

Stats Summary

TOL LA

Shots 18 7

Shots on Goal 6 3

Saves 1 2

Corner Kicks 6 3

Fouls 12 10

Offsides 2 1

Possession 72.4% 27.6%

Misconduct Summary

LA: Edwin Cerrillo (caution) 36'

TOL: Bruno Mendez (caution) 89'

Officials

Referee: Said Maritnez

Assistant Referees: Walter Lopez, Christian Ramirez

Fourth Official: Nelson Salgado

VAR: Tatiana Guzman

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

LA Galaxy Postgame Top Quotes

LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney

On the mentality to fight back and get two away goals:

"Yeah, I think, you know, the results have been the results, but in many of our results, we haven't been outplayed. We have more chances on goal. We have more of the ball, more, whatever you generally want to look at as a statistic to look like the team that's more in control. We've had that in most of the games. It's been our failure to execute in the two boxes that has hurt us in some of these games. So, I don't think the belief is not in the group. The belief is there. It's about the extra, and we talk about it. It's the extra 5% here and there and little things through the course of the game and details and a little more fight and nastiness through the course of the game it takes sometimes to get over the hump just to win games. And that was going to be even more important playing in conditions like this against the team of their quality. So, I think the guys knew what the challenge was going to be in front of them. I think they were, they don't like the feeling, they were tired of the feeling that they felt the other night, so I fully expected to see the type of commitment and fight that they had today and I think that will continue. Again, the guys believe in the group and they believe in what we are doing. We need to execute better on both ends and, if we do that, we're going to turn all these things into results. The numbers are there in terms of our performances, but we're not scoring goals when we need to and we're conceding goals too easily."

On preparing for the second leg amidst a busy schedule:

"Yeah, I mean, we have a quick turnaround, and from here we go straight to Austin to play a league match, a short turnaround, and an afternoon game of all things. So, uh, we're going to prepare the room for that first, and then we'll focus on the next leg after we get through Austin, but we better turn our attention back to the league. We need to try to scrounge some points out of a difficult game on the road after a tough effort and emotional game tonight. So, just got to recover guys, get some rest, eat and we'll get to Austin as quickly as we can tomorrow, and just try to recover, prepare for that game. And then hopefully we can get a healthy body or two back coming into next week."

On Pec's form in CCC compared to MLS:

"I thought from beginning to end, Gabe [Pec] looked like one of our most energetic players, you know, it looked like nothing fazed him out there in terms of, you know, the opportunities. He just looked like he was ready to go and just run. And he was causing problems through the course of the game. So, I feel like for him, it was a good night. Look, we want him to continue to score goals. We want him to score goals in league and just to be consistent in that regard. Sometimes for goals, it's about confidence. It's nice that he was able to get one tonight and feel that again because I know it's been a little frustrating for him. So, he's just got to keep working, just like the team. Working on doing the right things and getting to the right spots and finishing when we get to those spots. So, I was happy for him just to get that going again. But again, I thought he put in a good shift on the night. I thought he, until the end, he looked energetic and was spry and if somebody was going to get one, it was probably going to be him."

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Major League Soccer Stories from April 9, 2026


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