San Diego FC went up to Carson on Saturday night to face off against the LA Galaxy. It was a crucial match for both teams, as the Galaxy wanted to climb out of the play-in seeds on the table, and San Diego needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. This matchup was their second meeting since playing back on August 29th for a 3-1 San Diego victory. When the lineups were released, it was already looking to be a different game. The Galaxy would be without Hirving Lozano, who scored the Galaxy’s own goal back in August, and San Diego wanted to shake things up in their starting XI. The first and obvious change was Pablo Sisniega in at goal. This would be Sisniega’s first start since facing off against FC Dallas back in March in a 3-3 draw. Sisniega was also the goalkeeper in San Diego’s first two Champions Cup matches against UNAM Pumas. The other change made centrally was at midfield, as Anibal Godoy started for captain Jeppe Tverskov. Head coach Mikey Varas was hoping that fresh legs would give him the advantage needed in this match.
The action started off quickly, as in the fourth minute the Galaxy scored a goal. San Diego was on the front foot and heading towards the final third, where a costly turnover by Chris McVey meant the Galaxy were on the counter heading the other direction. As passes were being recycled backward by SDFC in the Galaxy’s half, a pass by Anders Dreyer was sent over to Chris McVey. McVey was trying to send a pass to Anibal Godoy, but the pass was out of Godoy’s reach. This allowed the Galaxy to take the ball away. A pass to Klauss at midfield allowed Klauss to run with the ball uncontested. No one closed in on Klauss. As Klauss approached the penalty area, he pulled up just outside the box and took a shot. The ball had enough velocity to bounce in and be out of the reach of Pablo Sisniega, going into the back of the net for the goal. The play was poorly defended by everyone on SDFC, but especially Manu Duah, who just had to step up and be as big as possible in front of Klauss so he wouldn’t have it so easy to take that shot in the first place. I wouldn’t expect Klauss to dribble past Duah or get a pass off that would make the situation even worse for San Diego. The Galaxy did not have the numbers advantage heading into the box. Things like this have been happening all year for San Diego FC. For Klauss and the Galaxy, this was his ninth goal of the season.
When the opponent scores against San Diego as of late, they usually score in bunches, so it was surprising the way SDFC responded after the goal. Just a few minutes later, San Diego was back on the attack. Elias Achouri was fouled in the Galaxy’s half and was awarded a free kick. San Diego took the free kick quickly, starting with a short pass by Godoy to Gabriel Pirani. Pirani passed the ball out to the far side to Kieran Sargeant. Sargeant sent a cross towards the penalty area. Oscar Verhoeven was able to head the ball upward. He then had another opportunity to head the ball; this time it was heading towards the Galaxy’s goalkeeper. As this was happening, Cedric Bakambu was on the run for the ball. As the ball took a bounce, both the goalkeeper, JT Marcinkowski, and Bakambu collided. The referee immediately pointed to the spot for a penalty as Bakambu was fouled inside the penalty area. For the third straight match, Anders Dreyer was going to take the penalty kick. It seemed like Marcinkowski was edging on Dreyer to kick to his left—which he doesn’t usually do, but did last week, resulting in a goal on that penalty kick. Dreyer kept his composure and kicked the ball right down the middle as Marcinkowski took a dive to Dreyer’s right side. This was Dreyer’s 13th goal of the season and also his 13th goal contribution against Los Angeles teams, as he has 5 goals and 8 assists.
But just as quickly as SDFC scored and answered back, the Galaxy already had a quick and swift response. Just a minute later, the Galaxy were back on the attack and had an ensuing corner kick. The corner kick was sent into the penalty area, where Klauss moved himself towards the ball and headed it with authority into the back of the net. This would have been Klauss’ tenth goal of the season, but VAR wanted another look at the goal. The referee ruled that #25 of the Galaxy, Carlos Garces, was interfering with the opponent on the goal from an offside position and ruled it a non-goal. Good, so San Diego caught a lucky break? Nope. Just a few minutes later, the Galaxy caught SDFC napping on the far side. From the goalkeeper to Garces, the passes went to the far side. San Diego tried to press, but that proved to be the flaw in their defending. Achouri tried to press Garces, and then Pirani pressed another player on the far side near the sideline. This meant that the Galaxy had to get the ball off quickly, and when Kieran Sargeant almost had the ball on a turnover, he quickly gave it away. This made the Galaxy act fast and dribble the ball the other way. Harbor Miller, who was initially pressed by Pirani, was running downfield and even had a cheeky back-heel pass to Marco Reus that helped the Galaxy keep possession. Reus passed the ball forward to Miller, who was able to get all the way just outside the penalty area and send a cross towards Erik Thommy. Inside the penalty area, Thommy was able to kick the ball in for the goal. San Diego again looked weak in transition. That was just Thommy’s second goal of the season. The score was now 2-1.
For the second time in this first half, San Diego would have to answer back. It seemed after the second goal from the LA Galaxy that San Diego began to settle into the match. They were defending a lot better and keeping the ball a lot longer, as that is their play style. San Diego had to be a little patient, but after 20-plus minutes, SDFC provided an answer. After a Dreyer cross was sent into the penalty area and cleared out by the Galaxy, Chris McVey recovered the ball and recycled it from midfield towards the far side. The players on that left side did a great job to create a goal-scoring opportunity. After Kieran Sargeant received the ball from Anibal Godoy by the sideline, he did not have any good forward passing options, so he made a pass back to Godoy as Sargeant made his run forward. This allowed Achouri to take his place by the sideline where Sargeant was. Godoy noticed this and sent the pass out to Achouri. As soon as Harbor Miller stepped forward to take on Achouri, he left space behind him, which allowed Achouri to get a pass off to Sargeant. With Sargeant running with the ball towards the penalty area, he tried to send a pass centrally in the box to Oscar Verhoeven that was deflected off a Galaxy player. Verhoeven was still able to slide and put a foot on the ball. The ball was kicked off John Nelson’s foot and went in the direction of Gabriel Pirani, who was able to kick it in for the goal. This was Pirani’s fourth goal of the season, which matches Onni Valakari’s goal total. Pirani is getting those goal-scoring chances and really making the most of them. As much criticism as I give Sargeant, that was a great play by him and Achouri, switching spots and executing the pass to get the ball into the penalty area. The score was now leveled at 2-2.
In the first half, San Diego dominated possession, as usual, with 72% possession, 7 shots, 2 on target, and 12 touches in the opposition box. The Galaxy had 4 shots, all on target, and only 3 touches in the opposition’s box. After the second goal, San Diego really kept the ball away from the Galaxy, as the Galaxy were playing a little bit more sloppy towards the end of the first half. The Galaxy had 79% completed accurate passes, while San Diego had 92%. The Galaxy lost possession in their defensive half 15 times to San Diego’s 2, while both teams lost the ball in the middle third, with the Galaxy losing it 22 times and San Diego 23 times. San Diego finished the half strong and looked in great position to try to take all three points.
The second half started with no changes in terms of substitutes from either team. It seemed like both teams looked content with their current squads, but San Diego picked up right where they left off in the first half. They went straight on the attack with a shot by Achouri that was blocked in the penalty area in the 49th minute. Then it was a shot by Dreyer in the 55th minute that was also blocked by a defender in the penalty area. For the third time, a shot from Cedric Bakambu was also blocked in the penalty area in the 58th minute. But then it was the Galaxy’s turn on the attack, as Pablo Sisniega had to save a shot coming from the near post at close range by Marco Reus in the 59th minute, and then again just a minute later with a ball that was a bit slower and low, easily handled by Sisniega. Pablo’s best save probably came a couple of minutes later from a shot by Pablo Ruiz coming from outside the box. Sisniega had to jump up and tip the ball over the crossbar with one hand for the save. The 66th minute came, and both sides made changes to get some fresh legs in. On SDFC’s side, they brought in Jeppe Tverskov for Alejandro Alvarado and Marcus Ingvartsen for Cedric Bakambu. Ingvartsen’s impact was almost immediate as he had a shot on target in the 70th minute; running into the penalty area, he received the ball from Gabriel Pirani, and Ingvartsen’s shot was deflected by Marcinkowski. If Ingvartsen could have flicked that one just a little bit higher and not had the ball go to the feet of Marcinkowski, maybe we might be talking about a goal for San Diego. But that was good goalkeeping by Marcinkowski, making himself big. With the goalkeeper deflection, San Diego was awarded a corner kick that Anders Dreyer took, shooting the ball over to Marcinkowski, who easily recovered it. Marcinkowski made a long throw towards the midfield that Pablo Sisniega kicked back the other way. Jeppe Tverskov was able to recover the loose ball and send a pass over to Anders Dreyer. Dreyer tried a shot outside the box but missed wide to his right. That would be San Diego’s last shot of the match in the 71st minute.
The second half stats would have the Galaxy with 8 total shots, 5 on target, and 16 touches in the opposition box. San Diego would have 7 total shots, 3 on target, and 14 touches in the opposition box. Pablo Sisniega really had to step up late in the match, finishing with 7 saves total, with 5 coming in the second half. Both Anders Dreyer and Gabriel Pirani were big parts of the attack, with each having 3 total shots, and Dreyer having 6 touches in the opposition’s box while Pirani had 4. Pirani also had the highest xA of the match at 0.48 and had 6 passes into the final third. Defensively, both Godoy and Sargeant had the most defensive contributions for the team with 5. Sargeant did have to be taken off the pitch with an apparent injury in the 83rd minute. This is probably the best San Diego FC had looked since playing Inter Miami, and that match also ended in a 2-2 draw.
What mattered here more is that the undefeated streak has continued against Los Angeles teams. This group has set a standard that SDFC doesn’t lose to an LA team. In two years, the record is now 6-2-0 against both the LA Galaxy and LAFC. If the day were to ever come that we lose not just one game, but multiple matches in a season against these teams, then that should be grounds for dismissal for any head coach or front office officials. The expectation is high that you do not lose to Los Angeles no matter what, and the coaches and players should know that. If only they took the El Camino Real derby more seriously.
San Diego FC are not dead in the water just yet. Soccerdatavizer has this team at just a 5% chance of making the playoffs. SDFC will have the Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps, St. Louis CITY, and Sporting KC to try to defeat and get into the playoffs, and the only shot they will have is that final playoff spot, which means a play-in game, and if you win that match, a chance to play Vancouver for a best-of-three series. Now, how can SDFC do that? Going 4 for 4 and winning all remaining matches will put you in a pretty good position. If you go say 3 wins and a draw, it’s still a good chance of making the playoffs at 44 points. But if San Diego goes 2-2-0 and finishes with 42 points at the end of the season, it will likely not be enough points to earn the 9th and final playoff spot. It’s going to be a tough road. Doable, but very unlikely against some tough opponents. We’ll see how this is manageable with 4 matches left.
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