Gabriel Pec Red Card Turns the Tide as LA Galaxy Fall to Colorado Rapids
LA’s second-half resurgence ended abruptly after Gabriel Pec’s red card allowed Colorado to pull away
The LA Galaxy suffered its first loss of the 2026 season at the hands of the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night. LA’s 4-1 loss was highlighted by a Gabriel Pec picking up his second yellow card of the match.
The Rapids’ Derren Yapi opened the scoring in the first half, but LA equalized via Joao Klauss’ goal in the 56th minute. LA struggled to build a rhythm with the ball in the first half but eventually got a hold of momentum following Klauss’ fourth goal of the season. The Galaxy was moving the ball with confidence and had retreated the Rapids’ defense line considerably.
With Rafael Navarro sprinting into the LA’s half of the pitch, Pec (already on a yellow card) decided to slide in from behind to win the ball. It was a poorly timed tackle on Navarro, who was not a threat to the goal in the slightest. Pec received his first career red card and walked off the pitch. Head Coach Greg Vanney was feet away from the moment and expressed his disappointment in Pec’s decision to aggressively win the ball back.
“Gabe got into a situation where he was chasing and he has to know he’s on a yellow card and he can’t take that kind of risk and that kind of tackle. He has to keep running and run the guy into a one vs two and we can recover the ball,” said Vanney.
“He’s got to make a better decision because the decision becomes a second yellow and that becomes we lose all momentum.”
It was clear that LA was building into the game and starting to gain a foothold away from home. Colorado is one of the hardest road trips each year, and for a second, it looked like it was ready to flip the script.
From the start of the second half until Pec’s red card in the 60th minute, LA outshot the Rapids 8 to 0. Better passing and an understanding of how to break down the Rapids were developing in real time.
Defender Jakob Glesnes reiterated the loss of momentum LA suffered in that moment.
“We have to get better at finishing the games with 11 guys. On away games like this, it’s tough to get points in, especially the first point, and then we’re down 1-0. I felt like we had momentum in the second half when we scored the goal,” said Glesnes.
“We are trying to survive out there, but then when they get 2 and 3, then I feel like we have to stop the bleeding because then the game is almost already finished,” he added.
The moment of match control was key, considering winger Joseph Paintsil left the match early due to a non-contact injury. Vanney was unable to confirm the severity of the injury in his postgame press conference. But without him and Pec, their abscesses blunted the Galaxy’s attack.
Colorado recorded seven shots (three goals) compared to LA’s three shots (none on target).
“It’s not fun to just chase the ball, but again it’s better to just let it play around us and just kill the game off. It is not a good feeling to sit here now after conceding 4 goals, especially like, we have been really good in the first games,” said Glesnes.
The Galaxy’s focus shifts to Wednesday’s Concacaf Champions Cup first leg matchup versus Mount Pleasant at home. LA will host Sporting Kansas City in its next MLS regular-season match.