Jonathan Sirois Makes Career-High Nine Saves as FC Dallas and LA Galaxy Play to a 0-0 Draw

The LA Galaxy put nine shots on target Saturday night in Carson. Jonathan Sirois stopped all nine of them, and by the time he turned away John Nelson's last attempt in stoppage time, the FC Dallas goalkeeper had turned a long, sweaty night into the best performance of his career.

FC Dallas and the LA Galaxy played to a 0-0 draw at Dignity Health Sports Park, with Sirois making a career-high nine saves and earning his first clean sheet with FC Dallas, according to the club. On the other end, JT Marcinkowski needed only four stops to keep his own sheet clean, and new Galaxy forward Kyogo Furuhashi got his first MLS minutes off the bench. Nobody scored, but this was not a boring 0-0. It was a goalkeeping recital.

Dallas Has the Opening Act

Dallas came out swinging. Petar Musa forced Marcinkowski into a save in the fourth minute off a Christian Cappis cross, then tested him again from outside the box in the 13th. The visitors piled up corners and kept sending bodies at the back post: Osaze Urhoghide, Logan Farrington and Nolan Norris all headed wide or over from set pieces in the first half, and Musa missed with a header in the 29th minute and another just over the bar in the 32nd. Musa finished with seven shots, the most of anyone on the field.

The flip side of all that energy was a stack of yellow cards. Patrickson Delgado was booked in the fourth minute, Cappis in the 31st and Kaick in the 35th, and Dallas ended up with four cautions to LA's two.

Right after Kaick's booking, the Galaxy found their rhythm and Sirois got busy. Marco Reus forced a save in the 36th minute, Nelson tried his luck from distance a minute later, and Reus was denied again in the 38th after Harbor Miller slipped him through. Three saves in roughly three minutes. Halftime arrived at 0-0, which felt about right.

Furuhashi Changes the Shape

The second half tilted toward the hosts. Sirois stopped an Elijah Wynder header in the 50th minute and a Joseph Paintsil shot in the 58th, and Reus dragged a shot from the middle of the box just wide two minutes later. In the 67th minute Greg Vanney sent on Furuhashi for Robert Taylor, and the Japanese international went straight to work, forcing Sirois into another save within a minute.

Vanney liked what he saw. "You see that we're a different team with a nine, everybody can move into their positions," he said afterward, per the Galaxy. He also praised the newcomer's touch: "He is a player who really understands the nine position and the movements and has soft feet, and you can play into him."

Dallas had one real chance to steal it. In the 85th minute, Santiago Moreno slipped a through ball to Musa on the right side of the box, and Marcinkowski saved it. After that, the game belonged to Sirois. Jakob Glesnes headed at him in the 90th minute, Paintsil tried again in the first minute of stoppage time, and Nelson's left-footed shot toward the top left corner in the 94th was the last save of the night.

Sirois, Nelson and a Very Busy Norris

Nine saves is a career high for Sirois, per FC Dallas, and the club added that he won every aerial duel he contested. It was also Dallas' fourth clean sheet of 2026. And these were not soft shots from distance: seven of the nine came from inside the box, including headers from Wynder and Glesnes.

Nelson had a night worth remembering, too. The Galaxy said the left back set career highs with three shots and two on target, against the club that drafted him 10th overall in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft. He also picked up a yellow card in the 86th minute, so it was a full evening.

At the back for Dallas, Norris made his 14th appearance of the season and was credited by the club with a team-high 18 defensive actions, including 15 clearances. And in a nice footnote, Clay Holstad made his MLS debut in the 79th minute after arriving on loan from Rhode Island FC.

The Save That Saved the Point

Pick any of the nine, but the late sequence is the one. The Galaxy had Furuhashi, Reus, Paintsil and Nelson all buzzing around the Dallas box, and Glesnes, Paintsil and Nelson each forced Sirois into a save in the final five minutes. Concede once there and Dallas leaves Carson with nothing. Instead, Vanney was left talking about what might have been. "So, I felt like it was kind of just a matter of time," Vanney said of the second-half push.

Stats That Matter

• Shots on target: LA Galaxy 9, FC Dallas 4.
• Saves: Jonathan Sirois 9, JT Marcinkowski 4.
• Total shots: 18 apiece. The Galaxy said 15 of theirs came from inside the box.
• Possession: LA Galaxy 54 percent, FC Dallas 46 percent.
• Clearances: FC Dallas 33, LA Galaxy 26.

Points, but No Wins

Dallas moved to 7-6-5 with 27 points, but this was its third straight match without a win after a 2-2 draw at Portland and a 1-0 loss at San Diego. The club noted it was the team's second road draw of the season. Next comes Leagues Cup, with Dallas opening against Querétaro on Aug. 5.

The Galaxy sit at 5-7-7 with 22 points, and they have now gone five straight league matches without a win, a stretch that includes three draws. The club pointed out it was their first scoreless draw in league play at Dignity Health Sports Park since Sept. 2, 2023, against Houston, and their third league shutout of the season. LA travels to Houston on Aug. 15.

The Wall in Carson

Sirois spent Saturday night doing his best Gandalf impression. The Galaxy brought a debuting striker, Reus and a crowd of 18,122 ready to celebrate, and nine times the answer from the Dallas goal was some version of you shall not pass. Dallas will take the point. Sirois gets the game ball.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes and match notes as reported by the LA Galaxy (lagalaxy.com); club notes from FC Dallas (fcdallas.com).