Joseph Paintsil notches hat trick in Galaxy’s win over Sporting KC

CARSON — Dan Calichman was a member of the inaugural Galaxy team in 1996. Nearly 30 years later, he led the club to a win from the sideline.

With Galaxy coach Greg Vanney serving a one-game suspension due to yellow-card accumulation, Calichman, who has been on staff with Vanney since 2014 at Toronto FC, served as the coach Saturday in the Galaxy’s 4-1 win over Sporting Kansas City at Dignity Health Sports Park in front of 17,903.

“Moved out to Toronto (with Vanney) and then Greg kept the same staff when he had the opportunity to move to the Galaxy,” Calichman said Thursday. “I had lived out here, I had coached at a university out in L.A., I was living in Pasadena prior to moving out to Toronto. So the chance to come home, Greg and I played for the Galaxy back in the early days, right. So to come back and coach our former team was a huge opportunity.”

Saturday’s opportunity was a rousing success thanks to a free-flowing Galaxy (5-17-9, 24 points) attack, led by Joseph Paintsil’s first-half hat trick. Paintsil scored in the fourth, 25th and 43rd minutes. The Galaxy led 3-1 at halftime, and Diego Fagundez made it 4-1 in the 60th minute.

Fagundez finished the night with a goal and an assist, moving him a step closer to the heralded 80-goal and 80-assist club. The current group consists of just three members: Landon Donovan, Jaime Moreno, and Diego Valeri. Fagundez currently has 78 goals and 79 assists.

Forward Dejan Joveljić returned to Carson for the first time since joining Sports Kansas City.

Joveljić, who joined the Galaxy in August of 2021, scored 21 goals last season, including the game-winner in the MLS Cup Final. He was one of the key pieces that the Galaxy had to move during the offseason due to salary cap constraints. He was sent to Sporting Kansas City in the offseason for $4 million and signed a new three-year Designated Player contract.

Before the game, Joveljić received his championship ring from General Manager Will Kuntz, President Tom Braun and Chief Revenue Office Uriel Martinez. In the 28th minute, like he had done so many times as a member of the Galaxy, Joveljić scored from outside the box. In a muted celebration, he calmly put up the heart symbol with his hands toward the crowd and blew a kiss toward the Galaxy supporters in the L.A. Riot Squad.

The Galaxy ended the game with a man advantage after SKC’s Shapi Suleymanov was issued a straight red for a violent tackle on the Galaxy’s Emiro Garces in the 83rd minute.

The Galaxy have four games remaining this season, three in Major League Soccer and Wednesday’s Campeones Cup against Toluca.