MLS
San Diego stuns LAFC in thriller as Lozano returns and Lloris falters
A wild first half and red card drama cap off a 3-2 win for San Diego, who now sit second in the West.
San Diego FC hosted LAFC at California’s Snapdragon Stadium and delivered one of the best matches of MLS Matchday 6, pulling off a dramatic 3-2 win thanks to goals from Christopher McVey, Onni Valakari, and Alex Mighten. LAFC must now regroup quickly ahead of their Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal clash with Inter Miami.
The scoring began in the 21st minute when McVey rose above the LAFC defense and buried a header past Hugo Lloris, who was left rooted to the spot. Things only got worse for the French goalkeeper in the 34th minute, when a handling error gifted Valakari a tap-in to make it 2-0.
It looked like a blowout was in the making when, in the 40th minute, Mighten added a third with a tidy left-footed finish from a sharp low cross by Valakari. But LAFC responded almost instantly – and spectacularly. Artem Smolyakov unleashed a stunning long-range strike into the top corner in the 43rd minute, a goal-of-the-week contender.
Just before the break, in the 45+5’, Cengiz Ünder pounced inside the six-yard box after a perfect ball from Marco Delgado, cutting the deficit to 3-2 before halftime.
San Diego held firm – and Chucky made his comeback
The second half didn’t match the goal fest of the first – all five goals had come before the break – but there was no shortage of drama. Igor Jesus saw red in the 53rd minute, reducing LAFC to ten men and leaving them unable to find a way back.
The Snapdragon crowd erupted in the 72nd minute when Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano returned from injury, coming on for Luca de la Torre. The Mexican forward nearly had a dream comeback with a one-on-one chance against Lloris, but the French veteran made the save.
With the win, San Diego moves into second place in the Western Conference with 11 points. LAFC, meanwhile, sits seventh with nine points.
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- 1 CJ dos Santos
- 19 Jasper Löffelsend (71')
- 97 Christopher McVey
- 22 Franco Negri (63')
- 17 Patrick McNair
- 6 Jeppe Tverskov
- 20 Godoy (81')
- 14 Luca De La Torre (71')
- 77 Alex Mighten (63')
- 10 Anders Dreyer
- 8 Onni Valakari
- Substitutes
- 2 William Kumado (63')
- 27 Luca Bombino
- 5 Hamady Diop (71')
- 25 Ian Pilcher
- 11 Hirving Lozano (71')
- 9 Tomás Ángel (63')
- 13 Pablo Sisniega
- 70 Alejandro Alvarado Jr. (81')
- 16 Heine Bruseth
- 1 Lloris
- 29 Artem Smoliakov (72')
- 14 Palencia
- 91 Nkosi Burgess (72')
- 33 Aaron Long
- 8 Marky Delgado
- 11 Timothy Tillman
- 6 Igor Jesus
- 30 David Martínez (71')
- 99 Denis Bouanga
- 22 Cengiz Ünder (63')
- Substitutes
- 4 Eddie Segura (72')
- 43 Adam Saldaña
- 12 Thomas Hasal
- 80 Odin Thiago Holm (63')
- 20 Yeboah
- 24 Ryan Hollingshead (72')
- 77 Adrian Wibowo
- 25 Chanot
- 27 Nathan Ordaz (71')
Substitutions
Odin Holm (63', Cengiz Ünder), William Kumado (63', Franco Negri), Tomás Ángel (63', Alex Mighten), Nathan Ordaz (71', David Martínez), Hirving Lozano (71', Luca de la Torre), Hamady Diop (71', Jasper Löffelsend), Eddie Segura (72', Nkosi Tafari), Ryan Hollingshead (72', Artem Smoliakov), Alejandro Alvarado (81', Aníbal Godoy)
Goals
1-0, 20': Christopher McVey, 2-0, 33': Onni Valakari, 3-0, 39': Alex Mighten, 3-1, 42': Artem Smoliakov, 3-2, 49': Cengiz Ünder
Cards
Referee: Tori Penso
VAR Referee: Daniel Radford, Kyle Atkins
Franco Negri (13',Yellow), David Martínez (18',Yellow), Igor Jesus (20',Yellow), Jeppe Tverskov (23',Yellow), Igor Jesus (52',Red), William Kumado (87',Yellow), Eddie Segura (93',Yellow), Hirving Lozano (95',Yellow)
