Joseph Paintsil completed his first career MLS hat trick before halftime and the LA Galaxy romped to a 4-1 win over visiting Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night.
Diego Fagundez added a goal and an assist, and Paintsil assisted Fagundez’s second-half goal in a match between two Western Conference sides who were already eliminated from playoff contention.
Mauricio Cuevas and Gabriel Pec also contributed two assists each for LA (5-17-9, 24 points), which has earned all of its wins this season at home since May 31.
Dejan Joveljic scored the lone goal for Kansas City (7-19-6, 27 points) against his former club to briefly cut his current side’s deficit in half.
Sporting finished the match with 10 men after Shapi Suleymanov was sent off by referee Fotis Bozakos for his 83rd-minute challenge on Galaxy defender Emil Garces.
Paintsil had previously scored three braces since arriving in MLS and joining the Galaxy at the start of last season; once in the 2024 playoffs, once in the 2025 regular season and once in the 2025 Leagues Cup.
His first goal Saturday night came in the fourth minute from a short corner he took himself. Eventually Cuevas had the ball at the top of the box and played a perfect ball against the motion of KC’s defense back to Paintsil a few yards above the left corner of the 6-yard box, where he finished past John Pulskamp.
Paintsil’s second came in the 25th minute and was one of the simplest of his career.
Fullback Harbor Miller did the hard work, turning his defender, getting down the left and then playing in a low cross.
It deflected off a KC defender and directly to Paintsil at the top of the 6, where he had a virtually open goal to finish into, with Pulskamp wrongfooted by the deflection.
Joveljic received his 2024 MLS Cup ring from the Galaxy in a pregame ceremony, and after he pulled a goal back in the 28th minute, made a heart-shaped hand gesture toward the Galaxy fans.
Paintsil completed his hat trick 15 minutes later by finishing off the Galaxy’s best-worked goal of the evening. Pec played a perfectly timed ball to free Cuevas behind his defender down the right, and Cuevas’ cross found Paintsil free on the back post.
–Field Level Media
