CARSON, California — Goals from Joseph Paintsil and Dejan Joveljic extended the LA Galaxy‘s league-leading tally of MLS Cup titles to six with a 2-1 victory over the visiting New York Red Bulls.
Held at a sold-out Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday, the championship match quickly hit the ground running for the home side. Following a rapid buildup in the ninth minute from a Galaxy side that was missing injured star player Riqui Puig, midfielder Gastón Brugman played a through ball to Paintsil, who made it 1-0 after slotting the ball past Red Bulls keeper Carlos Coronel.
The Galaxy then quickly doubled their lead after Mark Delgado won back possession in the 13th minute and gave Joveljic the chance to pick up a pass, run forward, and sneak a shot past Coronel to make it 2-0.
The Red Bulls eventually cut into the deficit with their first attempt of the match. After a chaotic sequence in the box following a corner, the Red Bulls were given a lifeline through a 28th minute goal from defender Sean Nelis.
Despite allowing the goal, the Galaxy held on through a more timid second half.
Eager to hold onto the scoreline, the home side sat back and invited pressure from the Red Bulls, who rarely tested goalkeeper John McCarthy. Although the Galaxy failed to capitalize on a few opportunities of their own in the final stages, their two goals from the first half was enough to cement a 2-1 win by the final whistle.
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The Galaxy, who now have a two-championship cushion over four-time winners D.C. United, ended a title drought that extended back to 2014. The Red Bulls, formerly known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, remain one of three original clubs to have never won an MLS Cup title alongside the New England Revolution and FC Dallas.
The Galaxy finished 17-0-3 this season at their frequently renamed suburban stadium, where the sellout crowd of 26,812 for the final included several robust cheering sections of traveling Red Bulls supporters hoping to see their New Jersey-based club’s breakthrough on MLS’ biggest stage.
The Galaxy’s Greg Vanney became the fourth coach to win an MLS title with two clubs. The former Galaxy player also won it all with Toronto in 2017.
The club famous for employing global stars from David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Robbie Keane and Javier “Chicharito” Hernández rebuilt itself this season with lesser-known young talents from around the world.
The Galaxy signed Pec from Brazil and the Ghanaian Paintsil out of Belgium, and the duo combined with incumbent Serbian striker Joveljic to form a potent attack that could outscore almost any MLS opponent.
But the Galaxy also relied heavily on Puig, their Catalan catalyst and one of MLS’ best players. Puig stayed in last week’s game after injuring his knee, and he even delivered the decisive pass to Joveljic for the game’s only goal.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.