LA Galaxy Tie in Third Straight Red Card Game 2-2

Montreal, Canada — Third time isn't the charm for the LA Galaxy. 

LA had a player sent off for the third straight game in a 2-2 away draw with CF Montréal on Saturday, August 22, 2026.

Two red cards could be bad luck, three is a veritable problem.

“There's rarely a season I can remember being with a team that's taken three red cards in a season, much less in a week,” LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney expressed. “Sometimes it's poor decisions, sometimes lack of awareness, whatever.”

Like Emiro Garcés and Lucas Sanabria before him, LA Galaxy Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski was the culprit for the dismissal in this game. The Galaxy keeper brought down Montreal Striker Prince Osei Owusu in the 68th minute to earn a straight red card to set up a nervy finish for visiting G's.

By that point, the Galaxy were protecting a 2-1 lead courtesy of an audacious back heel by Captain Maya Yoshida off a set piece corner kick.

That should have been the platform for victory the Galaxy needed. Instead, Vanney will be asking himself what he needs to do to keep all his players on the pitch. 

The first half saw the two non-playoff teams trade goals early. 

Striker Daniel Rios opened the scoring for the hosts with a rebound strike in the 16th minute, before Ruben Ramos Jr., leveled the score four minutes later with his first LA Galaxy and MLS goal.

The young Galaxy Academy product is coming off a fruitful USYNT World Cup qualifying tournament where he scored four times, and he made sure to continue the streak by being first to Kyōgo Furuhashi's strike to bring his team back into the match.

It was undoubtedly a special moment for the Homegrown player.

“Finally, happy it came. I've been waiting for almost two years now for it and I'm glad that it came today,” Ramos confessed in the Galaxy’s post match press conference.

“I'd like to thank God first for my goal. It just felt like an unreal moment. I didn't even know if it hit the back of the net. I just know the keeper didn't get it, so I kind of figured it went in.”

Ramos Jr.’s first goal and Yoshida's highlight-level backheel should have been enough to make it two in a row for LA. Instead, the Galaxy were lucky to escape Canada with anything at all.

Marcinkowski's red card forced them to play a man down for 30+ minutes.

The pressure finally told 10 minutes later.

The ever-dangerous Owusu finally got his goal by getting onto the end of a Luca Petrasso cross to tie the game at two. Rios too, tested substitute Goalkeeper Novak Mićovic with a point-blank shot that Mićovic did well to instinctively push over the crossbar.

But the experience of being in this very situation two other times in the past seven days, must have given the Galaxy heart they could get through it again.

The visitors were resolute after conceding the equalizer, and indeed could've snatched a winner through Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, but the DP winger had his shot well saved.

Photo Credit: LA Galaxy

LA Galaxy players Ruben Ramos Jr., and Harbor Miller celebrate Ramos Jr.'s first MLS and Galaxy goal in LA's 2-2 away draw against CF Montréal on Saturday, August 22, 2026.

It will be little consolation to Vanney, who had a player let himself and his team down again.

“Overall, I'm disappointed that we didn’t get the win, [but] I'm actually pleased with the effort and that we put ourselves in position throughout the night.”

With Lozano's return to San Diego scheduled for next week in a tense matchup with his former team, Vanney will hope that position includes keeping all his players on the field next week.