Galaxy, Yoshida rescue point against LAFC in 'El Tráfico'

LOS ANGELES -- It's ordinary to expect the extraordinary now in El Tráfico.

LA Galaxy Captain Maya Yoshida was the latest to write his name into the crazy history of this fixture when his header deep in stoppage time rescued a point for the LA Galaxy, who fought back several times to earn a 3-3 draw against their city rivals, LAFC, at BMO Stadium on Saturday, July 19, 2025.

LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney wasn’t surprised by the extraordinary scenes that led to his team getting a point from the 26th edition of the match between LA’s two teams.

“These games are crazy always, so, in a rivalry game or any game, you never give up. These games specifically have always had a way to have some crazy in them. Didn't disappoint there at the end.”

Vanney is correct. This El Tráfico did not disappoint.

It had it all. A fightback, fights, well-taken goals, two players with a brace, and above all, drama.

After the Galaxy conceded twice in five first half minutes, LAFC looked to be comfortable, up 2-0 and on the way towards a win. 

Denis Bouanga opened the scoring by running onto a lovely Ryan Hollingshead pass, which Bouanga rifled toward the far post for the 1-0.

Javairô Dilrosun made it a two-goal lead on 31 minutes after receiving Nathan Ordaz’s driven cross, keeping his cool to beat Julian Aude for space, and then firing past Galaxy Goalkeeper Novak Mićović.

Five minutes later, Gabriel Pec had halved the deficit.

The Brazilian drew and dispatched a penalty after Hollingshead handled in the box for the 2-1 scoreline going into the half.  

LAFC seized momentum again, with Bouanga completing his brace. 

The winger tried to play a give-and-go with Ordaz in the middle of the pitch. Instead, his pass was deflected, but the ball fell kindly for him. After controlling it, Bouanga dribbled the length of midfield with Galaxy players at his heels. He outpaced them all, kept his composure in the face of an oncoming Mićović, and calmly passed it in the bottom left corner for the 3-1 lead.

That too should have been enough to finish off this Galaxy team, but Pec would have other ideas and go in search of his own brace to match Bouanga's.

The Galaxy would finish off a well-worked passing move in the 79th minute, with Marco Reus finding Pec with the cutback pass from the wings. As he did so many times in 2024, the MLS Newcomer of the year put the ball away with a lovely first-time finish that LAFC Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris could do nothing about to bring the Galaxy within a goal again.

Pec would finish the evening with two goals and an assist.

The Galaxy would continue to push for the equalizer, and almost had it through Christian Ramirez. The striker slid to meet Pec's cross, only for Lloris to pull off the save of the night and block Ramirez's shot with his legs.

With the clock winding down, the Galaxy would get a lifeline from an unlikely sequence of events.

After a Mauricio Cuevas foul on David Martinez turned into a full-scale beef on the pitch, multiple players were given yellow cards, while LAFC Defender Eddie Segura received a straight red card for putting his hands around Diego Fagundez’s neck in front of Referee Guido Gonzalez Jr.

With LAFC down to 10 men and only stoppage time remaining, the visitors went in search of the tying goal.

As time wound down, Joseph Painstil wriggled free on the left wing. The winger would play the ball towards Pec in midfield, who then found Cuevas on the right wing. The Galaxy academy product sent in a beautiful cross that Yoshida rose to meet and dispatched into the bottom left of Lloris’ net for the tying goal with the last strike of the ball. 

Although the Galaxy scored on the last play of the game, Yoshida doesn’t feel like the champs stole a point. 

“We earned a point. As I say, how we play, we should play much better, especially for ourself,” the Galaxy Captain confessed. However, he was also complimentary of the spirit shown in fighting back twice from two-goal deficits. “We show great spirit, and the goal I score was great comeback, a good score.”

Although the Galaxy picked up an important point from their rival, Yoshida is right. They’ll have to play “much better” to stay mathematically alive in the playoff race. Vanney’s team needs virtually every available point between now and the end of the season.

The Galaxy will have the opportunity to build on the emotional tie earned against LAFC, when they visit Houston on Friday, July 25th.