Sports
Gabriel Pec helps Galaxy extend their home unbeaten streak in win over Kansas City
Gabriel Pec scored a goal and assisted on two others Saturday as the Galaxy opened the second half of their season with a 4-2 win over a stubborn Sporting Kansas City team at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Dejan Joveljic, Joseph Paintsil and Miguel Berry also scored for the Galaxy (8-3-7), who moved to third in the Western Conference standings, three points behind first-place Real Salt Lake. The win also kept them unbeaten through eight home games for the first time since 2016.
Only two other MLS teams — the New York Red Bulls and LAFC — have yet to lose at home this season, while the four goals matched a season high for the Galaxy.
“Home games are huge,” midfielder Diego Fagundez said. “That’s the key part, making sure that when we come home, we make it hard for teams. And we are doing that.
“We’re scoring a lot of goals, but at the same time, we need to be a little bit better defensively. It would be nice to win a game 2-0 or 1-0. I keep saying it over and over: If this team plays 90 minutes, I don’t think there’s a team that’s better than us.”
The Galaxy, returning after a two-week break and playing without playmaker Riqui Puig, who is nursing a groin injury, went ahead to stay on Joveljic’s goal in the 40th minute. After a tedious start in which the teams combined for only two shots on goal, the Galaxy got three in a matter of seconds, the final a right-footed shot from Joveljic that found the back of the net.
The sequence started with Pec putting a right-footed shot on goal from just inside the box. Kansas City keeper Tim Melia parried that away with both hands, but the ball dropped at the feet of Joveljic, who redirected it on goal. This time Melia made the save with his body as he went to the turf and the rebound hit Joveljic in the chest, allowing him to gain control and dribble past the keeper before sending a shot into the roof of the net from a right angle.
The goal was Joveljic’s team-leading 10th of the season.
Pec, who had a massive game, then doubled the lead nine minutes into the second half, running on to a chipped pass from Joveljic, dribbling into the center of the box and driving a low left-footed shot across his body and just inside the near post.
The goal was Pec’s fifth of the season, the assist Joveljic’s third.
Sporting Kansas City scored in the 66th minute when Stephen Afrifa came off the bench to one-time a left-footed shot past a sprawling John McCarthy just seconds after entering the game. But Paintsil restored the two-goal lead nine minutes later on a breakaway tally.
Defender Miki Yamane set up the goal with a long diagonal ball to Pec. Two Kansas City defenders collapsed on him, leaving Paintsil, playing for the first time in a month, open in the center of the box. Pec pushed the ball to him and the easy finish gave Paintsil his fifth goal of the season.
“It was great to get Joe back,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said of Paintsil, who came on at halftime. “He’s got to get back into match fitness and just get sharp again. He probably had three chances to score. He could have had a hat trick in 30 minutes.
“He does so many things at a high speed [so] repeatability is something you’ve got to work [on]. It doesn’t just come overnight.”
But Kansas City (3-10-5), which has won only one of its last 12 games, wouldn’t quit, pulling to within a goal again in the 82nd minute when defender Robert Castellanos bounced a shot off McCarthy’s outstretched right hand and in at the near post.
That was as close as Kansas City would get, though, with Berry closing the scoring for the Galaxy two minutes into stoppage time, sliding to redirect a Pec pass in with his right foot. The two-assist game was the first for Pec in MLS.
Sports
Stefon Diggs, still seeking new NFL home, insists no team has a better No 2 receiver ‘than me’
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Stefon Diggs is still looking for his next NFL team after one season with the New England Patriots, which ended in a Super Bowl LX defeat.
With NFL training camps across the country set to kick off at the end of the month, Diggs, who will be entering his 12th season, made quite the statement during a recent YouTube video on his channel.
Diggs stated that he is the best No. 2 receiver in the league, and he explained why.
New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) walks to the podium to speak to the media after a minicamp held in the WIN Field House at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on June 10, 2025. (Eric Canha/Imagn Images)
“Everybody got a 1,,” he said. “Opportunities aside, people might say there’s seven real 1s. In my opinion, I can compete with anybody, but take those as your 1s. You can’t name a No. 2 better than me. There’s not a No. 2 on a team. Let’s presumably give people the credit and just say, ‘OK, you want to take the No. 1 spot away.’ Name your No. 2 receiver right now. Tell me how much he makes. My last question is: Is he better than me?”
Diggs put up 1,013 yards in his 11th season, his first and only with the Patriots, on 85 receptions (102 targets) with four touchdowns from breakout star quarterback Drake Maye . It marked Diggs’ seventh 1,000-yard season in the NFL, which have come in seven of the last eight seasons.
ODELL BECKHAM TOLD GIANTS COACH HE’S READY TO ‘GO OUT ON MY SWORD’ TO EARN ROSTER SPOT
The 32-year-old did note being a No. 2 option, which means he could be willing to take a pay cut to join a squad that he could help get back to the playoffs and, as ever player hopes, the Super Bowl. But no team has pulled the trigger just yet.
Could Diggs’ off-the-field issues be a factor? He faced some serious allegations in December after being charged with felony strangulation and misdemeanor assault in a dispute with his private chef.
New England Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs speaks during his introductory press conference on March 28, 2025. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
However, Diggs was found not guilty by a jury, with the NFL closing its review on the matter, stating there was insufficient evidence to warrant a suspension for violating its personal conduct policy. Diggs’ attorney said that “professional athletes have a target on their back” following the non-guilty verdict.
“We have taken these allegations seriously from Day One and that’s exactly why we were eager for the facts to come to light through the legal process,” Mitch Schuster of Meister, Seelig & Schuster, the firm that represented Diggs, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital in May.
The Patriots released Diggs in March, but he has been staying in shape and looking for the next opportunity since the league cleared him last month.
New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs plays against the Seattle Seahawks during Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 8, 2026. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
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Teams to watch could be the Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants, Washington Commanders, Kansas City Chiefs, or even a Buffalo Bills reunion with Josh Allen, who built such a rapport with him to earn four straight Pro Bowls from 2020-23.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Sports
Dodgers swept by Diamondbacks in first winless series of season as they stagger into All-Star break
The Dodgers needed to turn things around Sunday to wrap up the first half on a high note. Manager Dave Roberts said as much the night before.
“When you give teams free bases, extra outs, it’s hard to win a game, regardless of the opponent,” he said. “Emmet [Sheehan] needs to go out there and throw the baseball well tomorrow. We’ve got to find a way to win a game tomorrow to feel somewhat better about going into the break.”
Instead, the Dodgers fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3, swept for the first time this season. It was Arizona’s first sweep at Dodger Stadium since September 2017.
Perhaps the break is coming at a good time.
“I guess,” Roberts said. “Gives guys a reset. … We’ve got some good teams coming up and we’ve got to play good baseball.”
Sheehan at least did his job, holding the Diamondbacks to three runs in 5⅓ innings. It was clear from the first at-bat that his pitch count could limit how deep he pitched into the game. Sheehan won a 14-pitch battle to strike out Ketel Marte.
The right-hander then struck out the side and was efficient enough to pitch into the sixth. He exited after his pitch count reached 101.
Max Muncy swings at a pitch in the seventh inning.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Shohei Ohtani sparked the offense with his ninth leadoff home run of the season — and 22nd overall — on a two-hit day. But he’ll get treatment this week instead of playing in the All-Star Game.
It wasn’t a clean defensive game for the Dodgers. In the midst of the Diamondbacks’ two-run fifth, All-Star center fielder Andy Pages tracked a long fly back to the wall but missed the catch as the ball bounced off his glove for an error.
In the sixth, the tying run scored when All-Star third baseman Max Muncy’s throw to the plate hit Geraldo Perdomo in the back as he ran home for another error.
“Just a slump,” Muncy said. “You go through slumps both offensively and defensively, mentally. It’s just one of those stretches for us right now, and I think everyone’s ready for the break.”
Regardless of some sloppiness, the Dodgers have had a successful season going into the break.
“Just flush it,” Roberts said. “We’re still in a really good spot. Don’t let it carry over to the second half.”
They have the best record in the majors (61-36) and an 11½-game lead in the National League West. They also had six players selected as All-Stars.
So, as Major League Baseball pauses play and honors some of the best performers in each league, now’s a good time to hand out our first-half awards.
Sports
2026 World Cup Young Player of the Tournament Odds: Lamine Yamal Favored
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Ask anyone who is favored to win Young Player of the Tournament for the upcoming 2026 World Cup, and presumably, you would struggle to hear a name other than Lamine Yamal.
The Spanish sensation, at only 18, is already viewed as one of the game’s greatest players — and he hasn’t even come close to his prime.
With that, let’s check out the odds for who will win Young Player of the Tournament as of July 12.
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Young Player of the Tournament odds
Lamine Yamal: +130 (bet $10 to win $23 total)
Desire Doue: +280 (bet $10 to win $38 total)
Pau Cubarsí: +380 (bet $10 to win $48 total)
Nico O’Reilly: +850 (bet $10 to win $95 total)
Here’s what to know about this oddsboard:
The Race: Lamine Yamal has been the favorite since before the tournament began and has not moved from the top of the oddsboard. Statistically, Yamal has only one goal and no assists in this World Cup, but his presence on the field has clearly opened up things for Spain on numerous occasions en route to its semifinal berth. Doue has a goal and an assist in three starts for France.
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