San Diego looked to keep its unbeaten streak against LA teams alive on Saturday night. San Diego has gone 5-1-0 in six matchups between the two LA teams, LAFC and LA Galaxy. The Galaxy were a team they had not matched up against yet this season. The Galaxy also had a new chip on their shoulder, as the newly acquired Chucky Lozano—on loan from San Diego FC—was set to start in this match. That provided him extra motivation to defeat his former club, which did not want to play him and caused him to miss the World Cup due to inactivity. San Diego was simply trying to defeat their SoCal foes in another derby while climbing up the Western Conference table.
Before the match even started on Saturday night, Frontera SD set the tone in their supporters’ section. They booed Lozano whenever he touched the ball during warmups. Clearly, the supporters’ section recognized that while some may still like Lozano the player, he now plays for the other side. Frontera did not want him to feel welcomed back at Snapdragon. For San Diego, people noticed a significant change in the lineup as Kieran Sargeant replaced Luca Bombino. Bombino is rumored to be transferring to Stoke City, which should become official soon. Another notable starter missing from the lineup was Marcus Ingvartsen, who suffered a knock in the previous match. It should not be as serious as last year’s injury, and he is expected to return to the lineup soon.
The Galaxy kicked off the first half, but San Diego recovered the ball as a long ball bounced to CJ Dos Santos. Smoke filled the stadium, the supporters’ section was loud, and the venue was packed to see another San Diego vs. Los Angeles matchup. After CJ’s recovery, San Diego quickly went the other way for a shot on target by Oscar Verhoeven that was blocked by Maya Yoshida. San Diego was clearly going to play its style of high-possession football and attack the final third. It was only a few minutes later that Elias Achouri received a pass from Anders Dreyer at the back post, but the run was not timed well and he could not connect to get a good shot on target. Achouri went into the side netting but appeared fine after tumbling down.
In the 9th minute, San Diego was able to get over the top and play vertically with a long pass to Anders Dreyer. Dreyer had one man to beat in Jakob Glesnes for the ball. The ball was recovered by Dreyer in the penalty area and shot, but it was saved by the goalkeeper Micovic on the near post and went out of play for a corner kick. On the ensuing corner kick by Anders Dreyer, the ball went long to Manu Duah, who did his best by heading the ball right to Justin Haak for another San Diego FC corner kick. This time the corner kick came from the far side. The ball went centrally inside the penalty area and was headed clear of danger. Kieran Sargeant headed the ball back toward the penalty area. The ball was cleared back out with another header. This time the ball went in the direction of Manu Duah just outside the penalty area, and he headed the ball toward Anibal Godoy, who softly recovered it. Godoy made his way down the near side of the pitch. With two defenders on him, Godoy sent a pass right between them, directing the ball centrally toward Onni Valakari. Valakari recognized Achouri running toward the six-yard box and sent a pass toward Achouri at the back post. The pass was slightly behind Achouri, but with Anders Dreyer taking the corner kick on the far side of the pitch, Dreyer was right there to run toward the ball and keep it in play. Dreyer kicked the ball in the direction of Achouri, who tapped the ball into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. This was Achouri’s second goal in consecutive matches, and it was great to see him repeat that same run to the back post. This time it worked, with Dreyer saving the ball before it went out of play and delivering a perfect pass to Achouri, who put himself in a great position to score.
San Diego, now leading 1-0, was looking for more goals despite some slowdowns by the Galaxy and the referee. In the 21st minute, the first yellow card was issued to Marco Reus for a tackle on Jeppe Tverskov. A couple of minutes later, Jeppe Tverskov received a yellow card for tripping up Chucky Lozano. By the 30th minute, Gabriel Pirani received a yellow card for pushing down Justin Haak from behind. Then, in the 39th minute, Godoy pulled Lozano by his shirt for another yellow card. The entire San Diego FC midfield was now carrying yellow cards, which meant changes would likely be necessary in the second half. At halftime, San Diego had dominated the half with 56% possession, 14 total shots, 4 shots on target, and 24 touches in the opposition’s box. Meanwhile, the Galaxy had 4 total shots, 1 shot on target, and 2 touches in the opposition’s box. In terms of keeping the ball in the opposition’s half, San Diego completed 125 passes compared to 77 for the Galaxy, including 68 total passes in the final third compared to the Galaxy’s 23.
In the second half, San Diego was looking to build on its lead, and it delivered quickly. In the 47th minute, with the Galaxy pushing forward, Chucky Lozano tried to deliver a pass from midfield toward the near side to Harbor Miller. Lozano sent the pass out toward the penalty area, but Sargeant was there to break up the pass to Miller, recover the ball, and pass it out to Achouri in midfield. Achouri was tackled down by Haak, earning a free kick. San Diego FC took the free kick quickly from the near side, sending a pass across to the far side to Anders Dreyer. With no one really pressing him, Dreyer weighed his options and noticed Sargeant streaking downfield. Dreyer delivered a pass to Sargeant running into the penalty area; off a bounce, it hit Sargeant’s foot perfectly, and he kicked it in for the goal. That was Sargeant’s first-ever MLS goal, and it came in a huge match. Dreyer’s pass was perfect, slicing through the Galaxy’s backline and extending San Diego’s lead to two goals.
Trouble soon arrived for San Diego FC, however. In the 50th minute, another yellow card was shown to Jeppe Tverskov for a tackle on Chucky Lozano. Two yellow cards resulted in a red card for Tverskov, forcing San Diego to play down a man. A midfield substitution followed, as Pirani was taken out of the match for Alejandro Alvarado. This meant only one remaining player in San Diego’s midfield was carrying a yellow card. The LA Galaxy fully capitalized on San Diego being down a man, pressing high for the first time in the match. After a shot from Chucky Lozano was saved by Dos Santos, Dos Santos delivered the ball to Ian Murphy, who passed it to Sargeant. Sargeant sent an errant pass toward midfield, causing a turnover that was quickly pushed the other way. Kyogo Furuhashi recovered the ball near the penalty area and passed it to Marco Reus, who tried to head it back to Kyogo. Kyogo headed the ball in the air while being pushed down by Alvarado. With the ball airborne, neither Manu Duah nor Oscar Verhoeven managed to clear it. Instead, Chucky Lozano recovered the ball just inside the penalty area and unleashed a shot toward goal. The ball went just out of the reach of a diving CJ Dos Santos. That marked Lozano’s first Galaxy goal, prompting boos to erupt in the stadium while the traveling section of Galaxy fans cheered.
With the Galaxy having scored, they looked to equalize and brought on a couple of fresh players. Erik Thommy subbed in for Isiah Parente, and Sergi Roberto subbed in for Maya Yoshida. Roberto, the newly acquired former Barcelona player, was making his first appearance for the LA Galaxy. In the 61st minute, CJ Dos Santos made another save on a shot by Lozano from outside the box. Dos Santos passed the ball out to Duah, who then passed it to Verhoeven on the far side. Lozano tackled and dispossessed Verhoeven before delivering a pass to Kyogo. Kyogo turned and shot, beating a diving Dos Santos to his left as the ball hit the back of the net for the equalizer. Or so everyone thought. The head referee was summoned by VAR to review the play, and it was determined that Lozano had committed a foul on Verhoeven, causing the goal to be overturned. San Diego caught a massive break on what would have been a huge boost for the Galaxy.
More changes followed for Mikey Varas and San Diego, as Amahl Pellegrino replaced Elias Achouri and Christopher McVey came in for Ian Murphy. In the 69th minute, while San Diego played out from the back, the ball started on the far side with Manu Duah and Oscar Verhoeven before swinging back to the near side. Godoy received a pass from Duah and sent it wide to the near side toward Chris McVey. Joseph Paintsil was also sprinting toward the ball, but instead of making a play on it, McVey checked Paintsil and let the ball pass through to Sargeant. An elbow may have caught Paintsil in the chest, and he went down dramatically inside the penalty area, but play continued. Sargeant attempted a switch pass back to the far side toward Verhoeven, which was unsuccessful and recovered by Lozano. Lozano dribbled toward the penalty area and made the odd decision to dump a pass off to Reus, who was only three feet away. This may have created confusion between Reus and Lozano, allowing the ball to be easily picked away by Alejandro Alvarado. The loose ball was collected by Dreyer heading in the other direction, with Alvarado running alongside him. Dribbling all the way toward the penalty area, Dreyer saw Pellegrino raise his hand calling for the ball. Dreyer delivered a pass into the penalty area that was touched last by Miller as he attempted to block it. The ball went right to Pellegrino, who fired a shot into the back of the net to mark San Diego’s third goal of the night. That was Pellegrino’s third goal of the season. Neither Reus nor Lozano tracked back to catch up with Dreyer, essentially letting the play unfold. Down to ten men, San Diego still figured out a way to extend its lead to 3-1.
For the rest of the match, San Diego FC focused entirely on defending. After the third goal, CJ Dos Santos recorded three saves, bringing his total to six saves for the match. He received plenty of help from his backline, as Manu Duah finished with 5 clearances and 2 blocks, Ian Murphy had 4 clearances, Sargeant had 2 clearances, and Chris McVey added 3 blocks. The defense played as well as it possibly could given the man disadvantage. San Diego survived and earned a 3-1 victory. It was a well-rounded win, with the attack doing exactly what was needed and the defense coming together to grind through regulation as well as ten additional minutes of stoppage time. It was a statement win for San Diego.
In the second half, the Galaxy generated 13 total shots with 6 on target and recorded 27 touches in the opposition’s box. In total, the Galaxy took 17 shots, 12 of which came from outside the box. This highlights the core issue regarding Chucky Lozano, as 6 out of his 7 total shots were taken from outside the box, with three on target. For those wondering why it was not going to work out between Lozano and San Diego FC, this match was the perfect encapsulation. Lozano prefers to shoot from outside the box, whereas San Diego has the 6th fewest shots from outside the box in the league. They mix like oil and water. Looking further, Elias Achouri—who replaced Lozano on the left wing for San Diego—outperformed Lozano in limited action. Lozano played the entire match, recording 10 progressive carries, 3 progressive passes, and 5 progressive receptions, yielding a net goals added rating of 0.27 alongside one goal and an xG of 0.32. By contrast, Achouri played just 67 minutes yet registered 7 progressive carries, 1 progressive pass, and 6 progressive receptions for a net goals added rating of 0.61. Achouri also scored a goal, but his xG was much higher at 1.04, meaning he took higher-quality shots. Furthermore, Achouri produced offensively without hurting the team defensively, whereas Lozano’s net goals added rating suffered due to his defensive output. All four of Achouri’s shots came from inside the box, making it clear that San Diego FC finally has a winger who fits their system.
Finally, Anders Dreyer deserves full praise for his performance. He was the highest-rated player on the pitch, providing three assists in the match. This raised his season total to 18 goal contributions, ranking 6th best in the league. His 10 assists tie him for first in the league alongside Evander from FC Cincinnati. Dreyer clearly thrives in big matches and takes these rivalries against LA teams seriously. He has now increased his total goal contributions against LA teams to 12, consisting of 4 goals and 8 assists. Dreyer is quickly becoming an LA killer and a club legend in these derbies. His play has been incredible since joining the league, and he should be a fan favorite by now. With the addition of Achouri, Dreyer may become even more effective to finish off the season. Since Achouri made his first start last week, San Diego has scored 6 goals. The presence of both players on the field together elevates the team’s profile and makes them significantly better. Hopefully, Dreyer’s play can continue for a playoff run.
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