Joseph Paintsil recorded a brace, Matheus Nascimento scored an early goal and the struggling Los Angeles Galaxy turned in a stellar performance with a 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Friday night at Carson, Calif.
Paintsil had just one goal all season before putting two in the net in the second half for Los Angeles (2-13-6, 12 points). The defending MLS champion Galaxy are 2-1-2 over their past five matches following a record 16-match winless start to the season.
Vancouver (11-4-5, 38 points) struggled without leading scorer Brian White (10 goals) and placed just one shot on target. White is playing for the U.S. men’s national team in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Overall, the Galaxy had a 12-6 edge in shots and placed eight on target.
Los Angeles’ Novak Micovic made one save while registering his second shutout of the season.
Yohei Takaoka had five stops for the Whitecaps, who have dropped three of their past four matches.
The Galaxy got on the board in the second minute, and the sequence began with Edwin Cerrillo taking a long right-footed shot. Takaoka made the save, but the rebound went straight to Nascimento, who knocked a right-footed shot into the left corner of the net.
Vancouver’s only shot on goal came in the 48th minute when Pedro Vite took a left-footed blast. Micovic moved to his left to make a lunging save to keep the Galaxy ahead.
The missed opportunity was magnified 12 minutes later when Paintsil sent a right-footed shot into the right corner of the net to make it 2-0.
A foul in the box gave Paintsil a penalty-kick chance in the 77th minute, and he placed a right-footed shot to the left portion of the net as Takaoka dove to his right.
Paintsil also had a solid opportunity in the 21st minute, but his right-footed blast from the top of the box was stopped by Takaoka.
Vancouver substitute Jayden Nelson received his second yellow card and was sent off in second-half stoppage time.
Paintsil had 10 goals and 10 assists in a stellar campaign last year for the Galaxy, but he has struggled to find the net this season.
–Field Level Media
