LA Galaxy Forward Gabriel Pec Voted MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchday 34

NEW YORK (Monday, September 23, 2024) – LA Galaxy forward Gabriel Pec was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchday 34 of the 2024 MLS season.

Pec scored one goal and added two assists in the Galaxy’s 4-2 home win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC to extend their lead atop the Western Conference to seven points. With his performance, Pec now sits at 13 goals and 12 assists on the season, becoming the fifth player in Galaxy history to produce at least 25 goal contributions in their debut season with the club and the first since Zlatan Ibrahimović in 2018. Pec is the only first-year player in MLS this season to produce at least 25 goal contributions, and he has the highest pass completion percentage (89.7%) among all players with 10-or-more assists. The Brazilian provided the assist on Joseph Paintsil’s 10th goal of the season in the 69th minute of the match, as the Galaxy became the first team in MLS history to have four players score at least 10 goals in the same season – Dejan Joveljić (14), Pec (13), Riqui Puig (11), and Paintsil (10).

Pec scored the opening goal of the match in the 32nd minute as he pounced on a loose ball in the 18-yard-box and curled a low effort into the side-netting (Watch Here). With the Galaxy leading 2-1 in the second half, the Brazilian dribbled at the Whitecaps defense on a counterattack before sliding a pass to Paintsil to tap home from short range for LA’s third goal of the match (Watch Here). Pec helped make it 4-1 in second-half extra time by finding Puig at the top of the box, which the Spanish midfielder slotted past the Whitecaps goalkeeper (Watch Here).

Pec is the first Galaxy player to be named MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra since Billy Sharp on Matchday 33 of 2023. With the Timbers’ Evander taking home the honor last week, this marks the first time in MLS history that Brazilian players have won the award in back-to-back Matchdays.

The Galaxy do not play on Matchday 35, but return to action on Saturday, October 2 when they travel to face the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (9:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).

The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while an X (formerly known as Twitter) fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.