Galaxy outlasts Orlando, 2-1, to qualify for Champions Cup

CARSON,, Calif. -- The LA Galaxy is Concacaf Champions Cup-bound for a second consecutive year.

The current MLS Cup champions outlasted Orlando City SC at home 2-1 in the third-place game of the 2025 Leagues Cup on Sunday, August 31, 2025, to qualify for next year’s continental tournament. 

Despite missing out on the big prize of hosting Inter Miami and Leo Messi in a marquee Leagues Cup final and winning another international trophy, the Galaxy not only secured a berth to the Champions Cup but won third place in a 36-team field. 

In a difficult year, LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney hasn’t had much to be pleased about, but his team’s form in a difficult tournament is surely a silver lining.

“This is a challenging tournament; it’s the best teams from two leagues, and it’s been hard to get to this point... but the team got the result,” Vanney said in a post-match press conference following the win. 

“The LA Galaxy should be in Champions [Cup]. It’s one of the expectations we have for ourselves, and the team got it done.”

And Vanney’s team had to grind out a result to do it.

In a close game played under the blazing California sun, the Galaxy was able to withstand the Lions hitting the bar twice, fatigue, and a sparse crowd, thanks to beginning the match with the right intensity.

Marco Reus set the tone early for LA, as a well-worked passing move by Gabriel Pec and Miki Yamane got Pec into space on the right flank. Pec showed the flash of magic he so often displayed last year to beat his man and play it across goal for the German star to put it away neatly and put the Galaxy ahead 1-0 in the seventh minute.

Although Orlando threatened, the Galaxy was able to close out the first half still in the lead. But they would not be able to hold it for long, as Martín Ojeda finished off a patient attacking move by the Lions with a lethal volley off Luis Muriel's pass to tie the game in the 60th minute.

But man-of-the-match Joseph Painstil would pop up just six minutes later with the winning goal.

After some resolute defending, the Galaxy won the possession back, and John Nelson got into a good position on the ball. The defender’s pass to Paintsil seemed innocent enough, but the Ghanaian international turned after receiving it and unleashed a shot from the edge of the box that Orlando City Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese could only flail at to put LA ahead 2-1. 

The strike caps off a good tournament for Paintsil, who finished with four goals and an assist in six matches.  

The rest of the game would show a Galaxy team hunkering down, doing the dirty work, and trying to withstand Orlando City’s attack. LA Galaxy Goalkeeper Novak Mićović ended the match with four saves, and there were several close calls. But in the end, the Galaxy was able to clinch an important result and an important qualification to next year's elite competition.

With the way the Galaxy has given away points this year by committing individual mistakes after failing to withstand a rival's pressure, the mental win is immense for Vanney's team.

“I was proud of our group today, because it was just the second half, it was just a knuckle down and get through it. And it was a very different type of win, where we just had to grind it out down the stretch and had to rotate, and we went through a couple different shapes and sliding guys into different roles, things like that,” Vanney said of the hard-fought victory.  

"But I think I'm proud of the group for doing so, and for taking something out of a tournament that is difficult."

The LA Galaxy will now look to capitalize on this silver lining by translating it into improved form for the rest of the year. They’ll have a chance to build off the win over Orlando and their last MLS win in their next matchup against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, September 6th.