LAFC falls to San Diego FC in Snapdragon Stadium debut

SAN DIEGO — They got what they wanted.

“Beat L.A. Beat L.A. Beat L.A.”

That was the quest Saturday for Major League Soccer expansion team San Diego FC, which hosted the Los Angeles Football Club for the first time and secured a memorable debut victory at Snapdragon Stadium, 3-2.

In fact, this was SDFC’s second victory over Los Angeles after just six weeks playing as a team, following its opening day win at the Galaxy with a second conquest over their high-powered neighbors to the north.

SDFC (3-1-2, 11 points) grabbed what appeared to be a commanding first-half lead after scoring in the 21st, 33rd and 40th minutes.

By finding and creating space with flowing movement and high-octane effort, the MLS newcomers repeatedly tested LAFC, which fell to 3-3-0, good for nine points, in regular season action ahead of the start of a two-leg CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal series against Inter Miami on Wednesday.

SDFC’s first two scores came under similar circumstances when free kicks from nearly the same spot 30 yards out pierced the heart of LAFC’s defensive unit.

In both cases, Danish midfielder Anders Dreyer delivered dangerous passes to 6-foot-3 defender Christopher McVey. The Swede’s first goal with SDFC gave his side the lead when his header rocketed past Hugo Lloris. McVey nearly had a second just after the half-hour mark, but his headed attempt did not connect and the ball fell to the usually sure-handed Lloris.

After the French goalkeeping legend spilled Dreyer’s cross, SDFC team captain Onni Valakari cleaned up the rebound for his second goal of the season.

With the crowd bubbling to a roiling boil, San Diego’s pot overflowed late in the opening half when they slashed through LAFC’s defense, setting up forward Alex Mighten for a simple tap-in at the far post.

Knowing all about the tenuous nature of three-goal leads in first-ever derby matches versus a California rival (recall the initial El Trafico in 2018), LAFC would not go away without a fight.

Before the break, Ukrainian fullback Artem Smolyakov’s left-footed strike from distance glanced off the underside of the bar for his first goal with LAFC. Then, Turkish forward Cengiz Ünder turned a blowout into a nail-biter when he tapped in his debut score for the Black & Gold in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

The outburst gave San Diego three times as many goals as the previous six expansion teams had in total since 2019 versus LAFC, which won each of those contests by a combined 15-1.

None of them played as fearlessly as SDFC did Saturday. The expansion side pushed for more in a wide-open match that saw LAFC have multiple chances to find an equalizer, even after going down a man in the 53rd minute when midfielder Igor Jesus picked up a second yellow card.

Following Jesus’s departure, LAFC had a half-dozen quality chances, including a shot off the post by Nathan Ordaz in the 90th minute, but the equalizer never materialized.