Los Angeles Galaxy manager Greg Vanney has praised Ghana winger Joseph Paintsil’s quality after seeing the former KRC Genk player star again for Galaxy since joining the team last month.
The Ghanaian winger delivered a standout performance for LA Galaxy, contributing a goal and an assist in their 3-1 triumph over San Jose Earthquakes in the Major League Soccer (MLS).
Paintsil opened the scoring for LA Galaxy with a clinical finish from inside the box in the 18th minute, seizing on a precise pass from Mark Delgado to give his team an early lead.
The goal and assist are Painstil’s first since making his debut in the MLS against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami in a game that ended 1-1.
Not content with just scoring, Paintsil continued to make an impact throughout the match, providing an assist just before halftime. He skillfully set up Dejan Joveljic, who calmly found the net from inside the area, extending LA Galaxy’s lead to 2-0 and leaving San Jose Earthquakes in disarray.
Speaking on Paintsil, Vanney said, “The transition play certainly a big part of the game tonight. Obviously in transition, his speed, his quality in the open field gets us going. His quickness, speed on the dribble and ability to carry (the ball) at speed all that gets us going in transition and we had some big important moments in that way tonight”.
“He is a quality wide, danger wide, goal scoring threat sets up goals from wide positions. It’s going to be difficult to clog up the middle and leave him in one on one situations or leave him in wide situations.”
With his contributions, Paintsil etched his name in LA Galaxy’s history, becoming only the fourth player in the club’s history to record a goal and an assist on his Cali Clásico debut.
He is the first LA Galaxy player to do so since Steven Gerrard in July 2015.
Paintsil’s stellar performance marked a memorable debut for him in the Cali Clásico and served as a testament to his talent and impact since joining LA Galaxy from Genk in February.
His remarkable display earned him a standing ovation from the fans as he was substituted after 63 minutes, making way for Gabriel Pec to enter the fray.
Paintsil joined Galaxy on a four year deal from Genk.
