Paintsil, Fagúndez goals lead Galaxy to win over Whitecaps

Joseph Paintsil and Diego Fagúndez scored two minutes apart late in the second half to spark the Galaxy to a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night in Vancouver in a match that featured three Japanese-born starters for the first time in MLS history.

Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka as well as Galaxy defenders Miki Yamane and Maya Yoshida all started and accomplished a feat not seen in the league’s 31 years of existence.

Neither team scored in the battle between the top two teams in the Western Conference in the early season until Dejan Joveljic used an assist from Gabriel Pec — the first of the 23-year-old rookie’s career — to find the net in the 56th minute for the Galaxy (4-1-3). Joveljic has six goals this season, leaving him in a five-way tie for the league lead.

The Whitecaps (4-2-1) netted the equalizer in the 77th minute when Brian White scored with an assist from Ryan Gauld off a corner kick. White’s third goal of the season is the 42nd of his career, one away from tying the club record. Gauld became the first Whitecaps player to total 25 goals and 25 assists in a career last week.

Paintsil took a through ball from Riqui Puig in the 80th minute and scored the go-ahead goal for the Galaxy and then notched an assist in the 82nd on a fast-break insurance goal by Fagúndez. Paintsil, a 26-year-old rookie forward has three goals and three assists in his first eight matches, all starts. Puig also assisted on Fagúndez’s first goal of the campaign.

Takaoka had one save for Vancouver and the Galaxy’s John Mccarthy wasn’t tested in a scoreless first half. Mccarthy finished with six saves, while Takaoka saved two shots.

The Galaxy move into the top spot in the West with the victory, two points ahead of the Whitecaps and Houston Dynamo.

• Lionel Messi scored his fifth goal and added an assist and Luis Suárez tapped in the winner in the 71st minute as Inter Miami CF defeated Sporting Kansas City 3-2 on Saturday night in front of the third-largest crowd in MLS regular-season history.

Many of the 72,610 who filled Arrowhead Stadium to see Messi weren’t disappointed as he delivered deft passes to create scoring chances — and had a highlight-reel goal.

Messi’s left-footed blast from the top of the penalty arc pushed Miami CF (4-2-3) in front 2-1 in the 51st minute. It was his fourth straight MLS game with a goal.

NWSL ANGEL CITY 1, RED STARS 0 >>

Angel City forced an own goal in the 40th minute for a victory on the road against the Chicago Red Stars.

The win was the first of the season for Angel City (1-2-1).

A Red Stars defender was the last player to touch Claire Emslie’s free kick, redirecting the ball into the net to put Angel City up. There was nothing Alyssa

Naeher — fresh off a Shebelieves Cup championship with the U.S. women’s national team — could do to stop the shot.

Chicago (2-1-1) responded with pressure in the second half, including a header that went off the crossbar, but couldn’t find the breakthrough.

The Red Stars were without forward Mallory Swanson, who was hurt while playing with Naeher and the U.S. last week. LOUISVILLE 0, WAVE 0 >> The San Diego Wave had momentum in the first half while Racing Louisville created more chances in the second, but neither team could find the back of the net as they played to a scoreless draw at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville.

The Wave (1-1-1) finished with 14 shots, but had just two on target. One of their best chances came in the 9th minute when Sofia Jakobsson’s close-range shot was saved by Katie Lund.

In the second half, Taylor Flint headed in a corner kick by Louisville, but the goal was called back due to a foul on the play.

Louisville (0-0-4) became the first team in the NWSL to open the season with four straight draws.

Also

Tottenham and Manchester United will contest the Women’s FA Cup final in England. Tottenham beat Leicester 2-1 to reach the title match for the first time and Man United won by the same score against Chelsea.

The FA Cup will take place at Wembley Stadium on May 12.