Joseph Paintsil scored the tiebreaking goal and Diego Fagundez added insurance two minutes later as the Los Angeles Galaxy earned a 3-1 victory over the host Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night.
Dejan Joveljic also had a goal for the Galaxy (4-1-3, 15 points), who moved into first place in the Western Conference. Riqui Puig had two assists for Los Angeles.
Brian White scored for the Whitecaps (4-2-1, 13 points), who fell out of first place and into a tie for second with the Houston Dynamo.
Just three minutes after White tied the score, Paintsil found the back of the net in the 80th minute and Fagundez followed with his goal in the 82nd minute.
First, Puig sent a pass to a streaking Paintsil, who drilled a right-footed shot past Yohei Takaoka to give Los Angeles a 2-1 lead. The goal was Paintsil’s third of the season.
Puig then led another charge and found Paintsil making a quick dash forward. Paintsil then played the ball to his left and a charging Fagundez sent it into the net for his first goal of the campaign.
John McCarthy was strong in goal for Los Angeles with six saves. Takaoka made two stops.
The Galaxy took a 1-0 lead in the 56th minute.
After White was stymied by McCarthy on a left-footed shot, Los Angeles quickly went on the counterattack. Puig got the ball to Gabriel Pec near the right edge of the box.
Pec booted a left-footed shot that Takaoka stopped with his hand. The ball rolled toward an unmarked Joveljic, who knocked in the rebound with his right foot for his sixth goal of the season.
White again was thwarted by McCarthy in the 61st minute before knotting the score in the 77th minute.
Ryan Gauld took the corner kick from the left side and drilled the ball toward the net. White was stationed in front and easily headed the ball inside the far post for his third goal of the season to make it 1-1.
Vancouver held an 18-12 edge in shots and placed seven on target to five for the Galaxy.
–Field Level Media
