After a couple of Champions Cup matches, San Diego FC was back at home for their first match of the MLS regular season. Up first was CF Montreal, who had a down season in 2025. San Diego had already played a home match earlier this month with a 4-1 win against Pumas in the Champions Cup, and SDFC was looking for similar results to kick off the season on the right foot.
Lineup
A day before the match, MLS communications announced player availability. Notably, Wilson Eisner, who started the previous two matches in the Champions Cup, and another right back, Wily Kumado, would be out against Montreal. That meant Oscar Verhoeven could potentially start at right back, but Head Coach Mikey Varas went a different direction, starting Kieran Sargeant at left back and moving Luca Bombino to right back. Bombino has played right back before but has spent the majority of his time on the left. Another change to the starting XI was at goalkeeper, where Duran Ferree, the first-ever signee in San Diego FC history, made the start. Pablo Sisniega received a red card in the final match of the 2026 season against Vancouver, meaning he was suspended for this opener. Additionally, CJ Dos Santos did not appear to be 100% healthy after an injury in last season’s playoff match against Portland.
Ferree is no stranger to playing in front of a San Diego crowd, as the former San Diego Loyal player represented that club in 2022 and 2023 as a teenager. When San Diego FC signed Ferree, he was loaned out to sister club FC Nordsjaelland to gain experience in the Right to Dream system. There were no other changes in the starting XI, but on the bench, there was no Lewis Morgan, who has yet to see the pitch with SDFC since being acquired from the New York Red Bulls.
First Half
Kicking off, San Diego was off to the races on the attack. SDFC was given a free kick within the first minute of the match, just a foot outside the penalty area. Amahl Pellegrino took the kick as a short pass to Anders Dreyer, though Dreyer muffed the kick, probably not expecting the short pass. Montreal took the ball the other way for a shot on goal a minute later, but Ferree handled the soft grounder easily at his knees. Montreal wanted to challenge the 18-year-old Ferree early by high-pressing him, but he handled himself confidently and kicked the ball away when needed. Around the 13th minute, Anders Dreyer won a corner kick and delivered it into the penalty area. Center back Chris McVey closed in and headed the ball into the back of the net. This was the second time in 2026 that the scoring started off a corner kick, following the same pattern as Manu Duah’s goal against Pumas earlier this month.
For the rest of the half, there was a lot of back-and-forth action. Montreal did a good job in the midfield, preventing the ball from going into their final third. Chances were limited until very late in the half when Ferree passed the ball to Jeppe Tverskov, who found Manu Duah. Duah sent a long pass from his own six-yard box toward the midfield, where Marcus Ingvartsen jumped high to win an aerial battle with a defender. The ball deflected off Ingvartsen’s head to Anders Dreyer, who ran toward the Montreal goal with Amahl Pellegrino to his left. Dreyer’s shot inside the penalty area was deflected by the goalkeeper but ricocheted right to Pellegrino, who sent it into the back of the net for the second goal. The lead was 2-0 at the end of the first half, with San Diego FC holding 64% of possession, 4 shots, 3 shots on target and had completed 85% of their passes.
Second Half Complete Domination
San Diego FC was fully in control, but the second half started with a scary moment as Pellegrino went down after a tackle. After a VAR check, the referee determined Tomas Aviles committed a serious foul and changed the yellow card to a straight red. Montreal was down to 10 players, giving SDFC a huge advantage. Pellegrino stayed on the pitch, and the scoring opened up again. After a Montreal throw-in, Chris McVey headed the ball before Jeppe Tverskov settled it and passed to Pellegrino. Pellegrino volleyed the ball toward Marcus Ingvartsen, who heel-passed it to Onni Valakari. Valakari dribbled closer to the penalty area and shot the ball past goalkeeper Gillier for the third goal. This was the second straight goal involvement for Ingvartsen who assisted on the goal.
The team was far from done with a 3-0 lead. In the 59th minute, Anders Dreyer won another corner kick which went short to Pellegrino, who passed to Kieran Sargeant, then back to Dreyer. Dreyer and Pellegrino exchanged passes again to create space in front of defender Victor Louturi. Dreyer then delivered a pass inside the box to Marcus Ingvartsen, who fired a rocket inside the crossbar for another goal. The score was now 4-0. After the goal, Ingvartsen and Valakari were subbed off for Alex Mighten and David Vazquez.
With 20 minutes left to play, it was a good time to let younger players see some action on the pitch. In the 70th minute, Pedro Soma subbed in for Anibal Godoy, and Oscar Verhoeven replaced Luca Bombino. The biggest substitution came in the 81st minute when newly signed 18-year-old Bryan Zamblé came on for Pellegrino. Zamblé did not disappoint the fans. After SDFC won possession at midfield, David Vazquez passed to Sargeant, who found Manu Duah. Duah passed to McVey, who found Tverskov. Tverskov sent a long pass across the pitch to the near post where Zamble received it. Zamblé sliced and diced the defender in front of him, and delivered a shot into the back of the net. That was Zamblé’s first professional goal in a 5-0 stomping where San Diego ended with 69% possession and seven shots on target.
Huge win for San Diego FC as they cruised through Montreal for the victory. SDFC does want to repeat the success they had in 2025. Doing so will require contributions from different players and this match was a testament of the team SDFC needs to be in 2026. I am reminded of the movie Moneyball. Brad Pitt did a good job being Billy Beane and some of the principles of Moneyball holds true. When an expensive player leaves (or in the case of San Diego FC is forced out), sometimes you have to replace them in the aggregate. In this match, two different players on the left wing scored. While Pellegrino can hold the fort for now, Zamble is clearly the future of the club and will receive plenty of chances to prove himself for the starting job. We should also expect more contributions from Marcus Ingvartsen who had a pretty good game for himself.
