Marco Reus Brace Lifts LA Galaxy Past Real Salt Lake With Late Penalty

MLS's own site calls Marco Reus a legend, and on Sunday in Carson he played the part twice.

The LA Galaxy beat Real Salt Lake 2-1 at Dignity Health Sports Park, and Reus scored both goals: a curling free kick in the ninth minute and a penalty in the 85th that settled a game RSL had spent long stretches controlling. JT Marcinkowski made eight saves at the other end and also had the misfortune of being credited with RSL's only goal.

A Ninth-Minute Postcard

Reus announced himself early. He drew a diving one-handed save from Rafael Cabral in the fourth minute, per RSL's report, and five minutes later Stijn Spierings fouled just outside the box. Reus bent a right-footed shot over the wall and into the top left corner. Clean, simple, devastating.

He was almost bored describing it. "Nothing special, honestly," Reus said afterward, per MLS. "Just concentration about what I did and just practice free kicks."

From there, RSL took the ball and refused to give it back. Victor Olatunji, making his first start of 2026 according to RSL, forced Marcinkowski into a save in the 20th minute, and Spierings's header was pushed away two minutes later. The Galaxy had their moments on the break, with Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec both shooting wide, but the visitors were in charge.

RSL's report said its locker room felt aggrieved by an earlier non-call on an Olatunji chance it considered an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. No penalty was given, and the grievance went with them into the second half.

RSL Finally Break Through

Olatunji tested Marcinkowski again just before the break, and the pressure told in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time. Aiden Hezarkhani drove down the left, cut inside past Jakob Glesnes, and picked out 19-year-old Zavier Gozo, per RSL. Gozo smashed a right-footed shot off the right post, the ball cannoned back off Marcinkowski and into the net. Own goal, 1-1, and a very long walk to the tunnel for the Galaxy goalkeeper.

The Second-Half Siege

Greg Vanney swapped Glesnes for Edwin Cerrillo at halftime, then replaced Cerrillo with Elijah Wynder in the 67th minute. Remember that second change.

RSL kept coming. Gozo had a shot saved in the 55th minute, Morgan Guilavogui forced two saves after coming off the bench, and Justen Glad headed just over in the 66th. Diego Luna, who RSL said was making his 100th MLS career appearance, put one over from distance in the 71st. Marcinkowski, who had every reason to want a redemption arc, was outstanding.

The Galaxy started to find gaps late. Rafael Cabral, the RSL captain, saved Pec twice in three minutes.

The Turning Point

In the 82nd minute Wynder drew a foul from Samuel Junqua inside the box, and the referee pointed to the spot. The man who drew it had been on the field for 15 minutes. RSL's own report called it heavily disputed. Reus, wearing the captain's armband, stepped up and rolled a right-footed penalty into the bottom left corner. Per MLS, it was his first penalty in MLS and his second MLS brace.

"But I felt good, and then I took the ball, and my goal is always to help the team," Reus said. "And today, finally, with a win."

RSL threw everything forward. Junqua and Noel Caliskan both forced stoppage-time saves from Marcinkowski, Dominik Marczuk fired just wide, and Cabral kept the margin at one with a late stop on a Paintsil breakaway.

The Standouts

Marco Reus scored twice from three shots, all three on target, before leaving in the 89th minute. MLS put him at four goals and three assists on the season.

JT Marcinkowski made eight saves. The own goal was rough luck off the post; everything else he touched was gold.

Zavier Gozo was RSL's most dangerous player, hitting the post for the equalizer and taking two shots. MLS singled out his work at right wingback.

Rafael Cabral made four saves, including the early dive on Reus and the late stop on Paintsil. RSL noted that their captain has played every minute of all 49 games across all competitions since signing in January 2025.

Victor Olatunji was busy in his first start of the year, with three shots and two on target before he came off in the 56th minute.

"Marco is the creative guy who sees something different," Vanney said, per MLS.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: RSL held 60.8 percent and completed 524 passes to the Galaxy's 304.
• Shots on target: RSL put eight on target to the Galaxy's seven.
• Saves: Marcinkowski made eight, Cabral four.
• Corners: LA won seven. RSL did not win any.
• Cards: Eight yellows, four for each side.

What It Means

The Galaxy move to 3-3-4 with 12 points. It was their first home win since beating Charlotte on Feb. 28, a span that included home losses to Sporting Kansas City and Minnesota, and it came four days after a 2-1 loss at Columbus. RSL's report listed the Galaxy 11th in the West.

Real Salt Lake fall to 5-1-3 with 16 points after back-to-back defeats, following Wednesday's 2-0 home loss to Inter Miami. RSL say it is only the 19th time in the 192-game Pablo Mastroeni era that the club has dropped consecutive matches, and their report placed them seventh in the West. It was also only their second road loss of 2026 and their first since the Feb. 21 opener at Vancouver, per the club. The good news is the schedule: they host Portland on May 2 with a 4-1-0 home record, which RSL lists in wins, losses and ties.

Reus kept it simple. "The key was to not give up," he said. "We spoke about it before the game. The goal is to not give up, to give 100%."

Closing Take

RSL won the possession battle, the passing battle and the shots-on-target battle, and still lost because one player did two things perfectly. That is Mario Kart logic: you can trail for most of the lap, hit two perfectly timed boosts and still cross the line first. Reus found both boosts, and the Galaxy finally had a home result worth celebrating.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Additional details and postgame quotes as reported by MLS and Real Salt Lake.