I attended this match at BMO Stadium last season. I was on one of the many buses provided by San Diego FC, with beers flowing and chants being sung. At that time, it was going to be the home debut for Son Heung-min, and Anders Dreyer “killed the party”. This time, we were hoping to see another debut of our own Designated Player in Elias Achouri. Also for this year, I was planning to drive with my better half into Los Angeles. I just wanted to see how the other side lives and experience BMO Stadium in a different way.
Our journey started just like anyone else’s who travels north on the 5 on a weekend, with some slowing near San Onofre. Just like that, it already feels like you’re going up to LA. We listened to an LAFC podcast called Happy Foot, Sad Foot, just to get an idea of how LAFC fans felt about the match. I will pull up a quote from one of the hosts who said, “Don’t you feel bad for them? They live in San Diego”. The smack talk had begun because—yes, I’m biased—living in San Diego is probably a hundred times better than living in Los Angeles. Don’t feel bad for us, friend; we feel bad for you for living in Los Angeles. I was thinking this as I was moving very slowly on the 5, now in Los Angeles. It took around two hours to get to our destination, and BMO Stadium wasn’t going to be the first place we visited.
The first stop was The Row, home of Pizzeria Bianco. Some have called Bianco one of the best pizzerias in America. We were going to be the judge of that as we ordered a Margherita pizza and a chicken sandwich. Both were delicious, but it did make me wonder if it compares to Tribute Pizza or Buona Forchetta back home. Fairly close to rate—we were both very pleased with our lunch. Now we had to make our way down to the stadium, which is near the campus of USC. I’ve driven here before for a concert almost 15 years ago, and I was going to park in the same spot I did the last time I was here. It was near the campus of USC, had plenty of parking, and was just $50. We arrived at the parking structure at 5:00 PM. We still had some time to kill before the gates opened at 6:00 PM. As we walked toward the stadium, we noticed a Buffalo Wild Wings directly across the street. It was a hot day, and a cold beverage sounded nice while we waited for the gates to open. There weren’t too many people at BWW, as they had the Dodgers game on every TV. The beers were cheap—two beers for $15. That price for a beer was dramatically going to change once we entered the stadium. But as it got close to 6:00 PM, we decided to pay our bill and head over to the gate.
As you walk toward the gate, you quickly notice the Fan Fest happening adjacent to the stadium. The smell of hot dogs and onions filled the air, music was blasting, and there were tons of black and gold colors everywhere you looked. To stand in solidarity with our club, we wore white because that was the color I remember wearing the last time I was in the building. As the clock hit 6:00 PM, a crowd of people started making their way through the gates that had the words “Los Angeles” hanging right over them. We went right toward the 3252, who were still filing in. As we made our way toward the south stands, we saw Frontera SD already banging their drums, chanting, and standing in front of their seats where there was no shade—just the hot, bright sun blinding them. Just as I remembered last year, Frontera was loud, and they had probably entered the building an hour before the gates even opened to the rest of the public.
The other thing we noticed right away was that the players and coaches were on the field. One player in particular was Elias Achouri, having a chat with Tyler Heaps. The plan for Achouri was to make his debut and get some minutes, but we didn’t know if Achouri was going to be starting or coming off the bench. But Achouri was there on the field, now with a phone in hand, taking video or pictures and really taking the moment in. This was going to be his first taste of MLS in a very hostile environment. Speaking of hostile environments, as we made our way back toward the north side, we heard the 3252 chant, “Fuck San Diego”. This isn’t a normal match. It never is when you’re facing off against an LA team. San Diego and Los Angeles don’t like each other, and that stems from years and years of sports history—whether that’s Padres vs. Dodgers, Chargers (when they were in San Diego) vs. Raiders, and now we’re starting a new rivalry of SDFC vs. LAFC. The rivalry can sometimes get violent, and it seemed like it could have happened on Saturday night. As we went to grab a beer and head over to our seats, we noticed a few people wearing shiestys (hopefully this is the last time you read the word shiesty on this blog) running south toward the SDFC section. It seemed like a few members of 3252 were trying to be instigators and headed toward the SDFC closed-off section. They were abruptly apprehended and shown the door. Through all the commotion and trash talk I heard walking through BMO Stadium, I was cool, calm, and collected. I had a ton of confidence that San Diego was going to win this match.
So it was finally time to sit down and watch this match. Frontera SD were directly in the section on our left. They were loud, to the great annoyance of the LAFC fans around us. LAFC kicked the ball off first, and we were underway at BMO Stadium. With it being Los Angeles, the crowd was still trying to settle in and find their seats, but it was looking like it was going to be a sold-out match. Son Heung-min gave the crowd something to cheer about with a shot off the side netting in the 5th minute. After that, it seemed like each side was trying to find their footing in the midfield. Which side was going to be able to get the passing from the midfield into the final third? While that was happening, it also seemed that both sides were fouling each other and really couldn’t get into a rhythm. In the 21st minute, a critical moment happened for LAFC. After a free kick on their side of the pitch, they were able to string together a few passes, with the final one coming from Tillman on the nearside of midfield out to Denis Bouanga running into the penalty area. Goalkeeper CJ Dos Santos was running out and was unsure whether to handle the ball with his hands or kick the ball clear. Dos Santos’ indecisiveness helped Bouanga settle the ball, kick it past the goalkeeper, and score. LAFC fans celebrated as their Frenchman flipped near the southeast stands. Manu Duah, who was on the backline, immediately called for a handball. The referee and VAR agreed to take a look, and sure enough, Bouanga settled the ball with his right hand to score. The score was back to 0-0.
Another crucial moment for the San Diego defense came in the 36th minute. As San Diego was trying to move the ball forward into the final third, Gabriel Pirani had a misplaced pass behind Anders Dreyer. The ball was quickly moved by the LAFC players out to the left wing to Denis Bouanga. Bouanga knew that Son was out in front of him and just needed to beat Manu Duah to get a pass off, which he did. The pass was placed centrally to Son in the middle of the penalty area, but Luca Bombino came from behind and angled himself to cut off and clear the pass, preventing it from reaching Son. Bombino was really fired up after that perfectly timed play. LAFC won a corner kick, but did nothing with the opportunity. As the first half came to a close, San Diego was dominant in possession at 62%. SDFC had 5 total shots, zero on target, and 12 touches in the opposition’s box. Meanwhile, LAFC had 3 total shots, 1 on target, and 3 touches in the opposition’s box. San Diego also had the better passing percentage at 89% to LAFC’s 80%. San Diego looked in full control of the match with some strong options off the bench. There was no nervous energy coming from San Diego—it felt like San Diego could pull off the win.
A couple of minutes into the second half, Oscar Verhoeven started things off with a shot on target in the 47th minute. Hugo Lloris had to dive slowly to his right to save the ball, but it was still a shot on target. Then, a few minutes later, came the moment San Diego FC fans were waiting for: the debut of Elias Achouri, as he subbed in for Lewis Morgan. Achouri was welcomed quickly by Ryan Hollingshead, who shoved Achouri down on the far side right after Achouri’s first touch. Right after that, Anders Dreyer had a very poor touch on the ball that led to a giveaway. Eddie Segura recovered the ball and passed it out to Son running toward the penalty area. Son dribbled the ball inside the penalty area and took a wide shot with a couple of defenders closing in on him. Ian Murphy slid in front of Son to cut off any good angles, ensuring Son kicked the ball wide. More great defensive plays came in the 71st minute. Son had a full head of steam running toward the goal, but Manu Duah was able to track back and deflect Son’s shot out of play for a corner kick. On the ensuing corner kick, LAFC decided to go for a short routine as they passed the ball around the penalty area. Son eventually delivered a pass into the penalty area that was headed away by Manu Duah. Porteous headed the ball out to Shaffelburg. Shaffelburg, on the near side, kicked the ball high toward goal, where Dos Santos was able to punch it clear and then fell to the ground after making contact with an LAFC player. Eddie Segura headed the ball with authority toward goal, but CJ Dos Santos pounced and batted the ball away. Before another corner kick attempt by LAFC, Mikey Varas wanted to bring in some veterans to strengthen the midfield. Jeppe Tverskov came in for Alejandro Alvarado, and Onni Valakari came in for Gabriel Pirani. After the corner kick, LAFC opted for another short corner. This time, Achouri was pressing, and the ball deflected off him and out of play. LAFC thought they had won a throw in but actually, Porteous tackled Onni Valakari on the play.
In the final few minutes of regulation, Mikey Varas brought on Amahl Pellegrino for Marcus Ingvartsen, making his first appearance of the second half of the season. Chris McVey also subbed in for Ian Murphy. With the last few minutes of the match winding down, both teams were still fighting for a win, but SDFC would be content with a point on the road. After a throw-in at midfield on the far side, San Diego was on the move for one last chance. San Diego passed the ball into their backline, with Duah and McVey passing it back and forth. McVey passed on the far side to Bombino. Bombino passed the ball centrally to Godoy. Godoy dumped the ball off to Tverskov at midfield. Then back down to McVey, who was creeping up toward midfield. McVey passed the ball down the line toward Bombino, but let the ball go all the way through to Achouri at midfield. Achouri passed centrally toward Valakari, who made a great turn on the ball that allowed him to get the ball out to Anders Dreyer. Dreyer, now heading into the final third, passed the ball toward the near side to Verhoeven, who was able to win a corner by kicking the ball off Cheberko. Throughout this match, both sides had been taking corner kicks, and for San Diego, this was going to be corner kick lucky number 7. With Anders Dreyer taking the corner, he aimed toward a moving Jeppe Tverskov at the near post. Watching live, it looked like Tverskov was able to head the ball toward goal with Hugo Lloris stopping the shot. But that wasn’t the case. In reality Porteous put his hand on the ball, knocking it down to Lloris. All SDFC players called for the referee to review the play for a possible handball. The referee and VAR crew agreed to review it, and once again, a handball was committed by LAFC. This time, it was a costly handball inside the penalty area, resulting in a penalty for SDFC.
Anders Dreyer stepped up to take the penalty, and all I could think about was whether Dreyer was going to kick the ball low and to his right, as that had been the spot he typically aimed for on penalty kicks. This time, Dreyer went straight to his left, away from a diving Hugo Lloris who guessed wrong. Dreyer scored and took off his shirt in celebration. Every member of Frontera SD was jumping up and down, while LAFC fans headed for the exits. With the match just minutes away from ending, LAFC fans wanted a head start on the traffic. But the match wasn’t over yet, as LAFC was still trying to equalize. In stoppage time, after a free kick was awarded to LAFC deep in their own territory, a long pass went out to Son. Realizing that if Son got any further down the pitch LAFC might have a chance to score, Dreyer went for a tackle on Son at midfield. The tackle itself was clean because Dreyer went for the ball, but he came in with a high leg, earning a second yellow. His first yellow card had been for taking off his shirt during the goal celebration. SDFC was now down to 10 men with just a couple of minutes left. However, there was no further threat from LAFC as they ran out of time. San Diego FC won in Los Angeles again with a 1-0 victory. The total head-to-head record is now 3-1-0—San Diego has never lost against Los Angeles.
For San Diego, this was a great victory as they inch closer to a wild card spot with 24 points on the season. With the goal in the 88th minute, San Diego earned their first points after the 75th minute all season. This was also the fourth league match in a row where San Diego won the xG battle. It seems San Diego is trending in the right direction, and with 15 more matches to go, there is still plenty of time to make up ground in the Western Conference.
After the match ended, the players and coaches came over to the southeast end of the stadium to acknowledge Frontera SD. You could see how happy they were to win this match for their fans, because out of all the matches in the regular season, this one really matters. No one showed more excitement in winning than Luca Bombino. The former LAFC product, who came up through the LAFC system, was never given first-team minutes like he now has with SDFC. He looked very emotional after this match in a good way. On the field, Bombino was really fighting for the ball and making every second count. As for Achouri’s debut, he looked like a player who was on a completely different wavelength than anyone else on the pitch. He had very good control of the ball and looked comfortable taking on two or three players at a time. Just the way he handles himself on the pitch is different. He looks like a player who has played at the highest levels of football. Dreyer looks like a menace out there for all of Los Angeles to watch. He’s definitely a thorn in their side, having scored both game-winning goals at BMO Stadium for San Diego FC.
As for the LAFC fans, I hope this teaches them some humility. Through the trash-talking, instigating, attempt to start fights, and egg-throwing, there is no real reason to be this hostile. It’s pretty ridiculous. From the start of the match, I was confident San Diego was going to win through some sort of karmic justice. It proved true when Porteous—the guy trying to push around Onni Valakari—ended up being the player who put his hand on the ball to concede the penalty. Don’t take my word for it; going back to the Happy Foot, Sad Foot podcast, the title of their latest episode was “Handballs, Bad Vibes, and a Brutal 1-0 Loss”. As one of the hosts put it, “I’ve never seen BMO clear out as fast as it did after this game. The vibes were bad”.
For San Diego fans, always let the team do the talking because they’re going to come through. It really feels that performing best against LA teams carries a high level of importance, and I think that starts with Mikey Varas. He rested his team in their last Leagues Cup match to have a roster as close to 100% as possible against LAFC. He also made great decisions off the bench that made their squad look much deeper than LAFC’s. Marc Dos Santos had a very tired team and didn’t really do anything about it, as Son and Bouanga played 90 minutes after playing another 90 minutes the previous Wednesday night.
As for us, we had a great time at the match. We only come to Los Angeles once a year and try to avoid it like the plague as much as possible. Will we ever come back? Maybe. But what we really enjoy is watching the passion Frontera SD has for this team, as the drumming and chanting never stops and continues long after the final whistle. It was another great turnout by them. Maybe next time we’ll hop on the bus. Who knows?
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