Sporting Kansas City (1-2-1, 4 pts.) earned a 2-1 road victory over the LA Galaxy (1-2-1, 4 pts.) at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday night to mark the team’s first win of the 2026 season and head coach Raphael Wicky’s maiden victory with the team. Dejan Joveljic scored against his former club to give Sporting the lead before Lasse Berg Johnsen scored the game-winner on his debut in the second half.
Wicky made one change to the team’s narrow loss to San Diego FC last weekend, inserting newly-signed midfielder Berg Johnsen for his MLS debut as Jansen Miller dropped to the bench.
Following an even opening quarter of the game, the Galaxy fashioned the first chance of the contest in the 22nd minute when former Sporting midfielder Erik Thommy sent in a cross from the right wing that found the head of fellow German Marco Reus, but he directed his header narrowly over the bar.
Three minutes later, John Pulskamp did well to gather the ball at the second time of asking after repelling Harbor Miller’s stinging effort from 20 yards as the hosts attempted to turn the screw.
Pulskamp was called upon again in the 40th minute when he showed top reflexes to deny Joao Klauss who was clean through on goal following a Sporting turnover. Moments later, Sporting had a chance of their own as Calvin Harris drove at the LA backline before seeing his powerful strike deflected over the bar.
Sporting created their first clear-cut opening in the 45th minute when Joveljic and Manu Garcia combined as the pair played a one-two on the edge of the area, leading Joveljic behind the LA backline but his finish from an angle was well saved by Novak Micovic.
It got better for Sporting on the stroke of halftime as the same pair combined for the opening goal of the match. Garcia clipped a sumptuous ball over the top of the Galaxy defense to find Joveljic isolated on the left wing and the Serbian marksman did the rest – driving beyond his marker before curling an inch-perfect finish into the far corner for his third goal of the season. With the assist, Garcia got off the mark for 2026 and reached 50 assists in his professional career.
Pushing for an equalizer in the second half, the Galaxy created an excellent opportunity off a set piece in the 70th minute when Miller recycled Reus’ delivery and found Maya Yoshida six yards out but he got under his header and it floated over the bar.
Joveljic had a golden chance to add to his total in the 73rd minute when Garcia yet again set him up inside the area, but his low effort with little back-lift was well held by Micovic down to his right.
Sporting doubled their lead in the 74th minute as Berg Johnsen made an instant impact on his debut. After Joveljic had sent substitute Stephen Afrifa away down the right, the Serb dummied Afrifa’s cutback to allow Berg Johnsen to strike first-time from 20 yards and he found the bottom left-hand corner to make it 2-0, becoming the first Sporting player to score on his debut since Alan Pulido and Gadi Kinda scored on their debuts on Feb. 29, 2020.
The Galaxy reduced the deficit during a crazy sequence in the 82nd minute. In a frenzied action where Pulskamp twice denied Matheus Nascimento while Edwin Cerrillo hit the post, veteran midfielder Reus finally broke Sporting’s resistance, heading home from close range to cut the lead to 2-1.
The Galaxy piled on the pressure during the closing stages but were unable to create an opportunity as Sporting’s backline held firm and delivered the team’s first win of the 2026 campaign – meaning Berg Johnsen became the eighth player in club history to score a game-winner on his first MLS start for the club.
Sporting returns home next weekend to host Western Conference foes the Colorado Rapids at Sporting Park on Saturday, March 21. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on Apple TV, while the game will be available on the radio on Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM. Tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.
2026 MLS Regular Season | Game 4
Dignity Health Sports Park | Carson, CA
Attendance: 18,232
Weather: 71 degrees and clear
Score |
1 |
2 |
F |
Sporting Kansas City (1-2-1, 4 points) |
1 |
1 |
2 |
LA Galaxy (1-2-1, 4 points) |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Jake Davis (Jansen Miller 88’), Ethan Bartlow, Wyatt Meyer, Jayden Reid; Lasse Berg Johnsen, Jacob Bartlett, Manu Garcia; Calvin Harris (Stephen Afrifa 71’), Dejan Joveljic (C), Shapi Suleymanov
Subs Not Used: Stefan Cleveland, Pierre Lurot, Kwaku Agyabeng, Shane Donovan, Johann Ortiz, Cielo Tschantret, Taylor Calheira
LA Galaxy: Novak Micovic; Miki Yamane (Mauricio Cuevas 63’), Maya Yoshida (C), Justin Haak, Julian Aude (John Nelson 79’); Edwin Cerrillo, Elijah Wynder (Lucas Sanabria 80’), Marco Reus; Erik Thommy (Ruben Ramos Jr. 63’), Joao Klauss (Matheus Nascimento 63’), Harbor Miller
Subs Not Used: JT Marcinkowski, Jakob Glesnes, Tucker Lepley, Isaiah Parente
Scoring Summary:
SKC – Dejan Joveljic 3 (Manu Garcia 1, Lasse Berg Johnsen 1) 47+
SKC – Lasse Berg Johnsen 1 (Stephen Afrifa 1, Dejan Joveljic 1) 74’
LA – Marco Reus 1 (Unassisted) 82’
Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Wyatt Meyer (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 69’
LA – Edwin Cerrillo (Yellow Card; Unsporting Behavior) 78’
STAT |
SKC |
SD |
Shots |
7 |
17 |
Shots on Goal |
4 |
5 |
Expected Goals |
0.42 |
2.06 |
Corner Kicks |
3 |
10 |
Possession |
41.3 |
58.7 |
Saves |
4 |
2 |
Fouls |
12 |
7 |
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Assistant Referee: Meghan Mullen
Assistant Referee: Diego Blas
Fourth Official: Armando Villarreal
VAR: Lukasz Szpala
AVAR: Fabio Tovar
