San Diego FC headed out for their second consecutive away match of the regular season to face FC Dallas. With a critical Champions Cup matchup against Toluca looming on Wednesday night, SDFC prioritized player conservation and load management for the high-elevation fixture. Manager Mike Varas opted to rotate several regular starters, giving opportunities to players who had not seen significant minutes to start the 2026 season.
In a notable change at goalkeeper, Pablo Sisniega earned his first regular-season start over Duran Ferree, who appears set to start in Toluca. The backline featured Osvald Søe starting at center back in place of Chris McVey, joined by Ian Pilcher, Luca Bombino, and Manu Duah. In the midfield, Pedro Soma started for Jeppe Tverskov alongside Anibal Godoy and Onni Valakari. Up front, Alex Mighten and David Vazquez replaced Amahl Pellegrino and Anders Dreyer, while Marcus Ingvartsen returned as the central striker. Meanwhile, FC Dallas played without their primary aerial threat at center back, Osaze Urhoghide, who was sidelined with an injury.
A Lucky Start for SDFC
FC Dallas immediately viewed San Diego’s rotated lineup as an opportunity to press high, pushing their forwards toward the penalty area whenever the ball moved back to Sisniega. This pressure created an early scare when a ball from Manu Duah deflected off Ramiro Benetti toward the goalkeeper. Dallas managed three shots within the first 16 minutes before San Diego found their rhythm downfield.
The momentum shifted when Alex Mighten dribbled into the penalty area and attempted a shot-pass that was deflected by Shaq Moore. A closer look revealed a handball by Moore, and after a VAR check, San Diego was awarded a penalty. Onni Valakari successfully converted the kick into the right side of the net as Michael Collodi dove the wrong way, giving SDFC a 1-0 lead.
Despite more pressure from Dallas, San Diego moved downfield again in the 28th minute. Luca Bombino delivered a pass to David Vazquez in the penalty area, resulting in a tackle by Herman Johansson that was deemed to have prevented a clear scoring opportunity. This led to a second penalty, taken by Marcus Ingvartsen. Ingvartsen fired a powerful shot into the right side of the goal for his third score of the season. While SDFC held a 2-0 advantage and benefited from favorable calls, they had remarkably not yet recorded a single shot from open play.
Defensive Lapses and the Musa Response
The two-goal cushion eventually gave way due to defensive errors. While building out from the back, Pablo Sisniega passed to Osvald Søe, who became involved in a sequence of passes with Manu Duah. Søe was eventually surrounded by three Dallas players and dispossessed in the penalty area. Petar Musa’s initial shot was blocked by Sisniega, but Musa recovered the rebound to score.
The goal was the result of poor decision-making: Duah had open teammates downfield in Godoy and Bombino, while Søe failed to clear the ball out of play while under pressure. This was the first regular-season goal ever conceded by San Diego FC. At the half, SDFC led 2-1 with 65% possession, though they trailed Dallas in touches within the opposition box by a margin of 13 to 5.
Valakari Restores the Cushion
At the half, Mike Varas brought on Jeppe Tverskov for Pedro Soma and Oscar Verhoeven for Ian Pilcher. Within five minutes of the restart, SDFC found their third goal through a patient build-up that reflected their preferred style. Manu Duah passed back to Sisniega, who found Anibal Godoy; Godoy one-touched it back to Duah, who then found Valakari. After a great turn against a defender, Valakari dribbled toward the box and shifted the ball through Verhoeven, Vazquez, and Bombino.
Bombino’s attempted chip was blocked, but he won the subsequent header, deflecting the ball to Alex Mighten. Mighten drove toward the near post and sent an accurate pass to Valakari, who volleyed it home via a deflection from Nolan Morris. Valakari was credited with the goal—his second of the match and third of the season—to make it 3-1.
Stoppage Time Equalizer
The two-goal lead was short-lived as FC Dallas pushed back. Bernard Kamungo received a long pass on the far side and attempted to kick the ball over an onrushing Sisniega. Sisniega’s aggressive tackle resulted in a penalty, which Petar Musa converted to make it 3-2. San Diego then introduced Amahl Pellegrino, Anders Dreyer, and Chris McVey to the match.
For the rest of the match, SDFC struggled to get much going as Dallas effectively blocked passing lanes. In stoppage time, a cross-pitch pass from Manu Duah intended for Verhoeven fell short and was intercepted by Kamungo. Kamungo beat McVey, Valakari, and Tverskov on a drive into the penalty area before passing to Musa, who scored the equalizer. This marked the first hat trick ever scored against San Diego FC. Despite late aggressive shots from Verhoeven and Dreyer, the match ended in a 3-3 draw. San Diego again had a low number of touches in the penalty box at three while FC Dallas had 4.
Lessons Learned Heading to Toluca
San Diego FC did not play their best match of the season. It is understandable when players are rotated in for regular starters. Manu Duah specifically did not have a great game and may want to forget this one as a couple of his passes directly lead to a goal for the other team. Mistakes happen and it’s all about how you learn from them. We learned a little bit more about the goalkeeper battle and why Duran Ferree is the preferred choice of Mikey Varas over Pablo Sisniega. Sisniega also directly cost the team a goal with an aggressive tackle.
Hopefully San Diego can learn from these mistakes as they head over to Toluca. Notably, Toluca also tied their match on Saturday night against Atlas. Like San Diego, Toluca left points on the table; they scored in stoppage time for a 1-0 lead, but Atlas quickly responded for a 1-1 draw. San Diego will hopefully be better prepared for this upcoming battle and leave their defensive mistakes behind in Dallas.
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