San Diego FC gets historic first home victory, beating LAFC, 3-2

SAN DIEGO -- The newly formed SoCal rivalry between LAFC and San Diego FC ended in a five-goal thriller on Saturday night. San Diego survived the Los Angeles comeback for a 3-2 victory to claim their first home win in club history.  

“Two good home games that we weren't able to deliver three points,” San Diego FC head coach Mikey Varas said after the club's first-ever home victory. “And this means everything to us. It's the first win in club history at home that can't be taken for granted.”

The birth of the new Southern California rivalry kicked off at a sold-out 32,502 attended Snapdragon Stadium as San Diego FC hosted their northern neighbors in LAFC.

San Diego FC came in the match off the back of tasting defeat for the first time in the season and in the club's history falling 2-1 against Austin FC at Q2 Stadium last Sunday. 

LAFC looked to continue where they left off last Saturday, defeating Kansas City Sporting 2-0 on the road.

Hard to separate the two clubs from the proximity of each other on and off the pitch as the two Southern California teams were only separated by one point in the Western Conference standings coming into matchday six of the MLS 2025 regular season.

LAFC came into the match on nine points with three victories and two losses as San Diego FC stood at eight points earned with two victories, two draws and a loss.

Unbeaten at home, San Diego still searched for their first win in front of their home supporters with their first two home matches ending in a scoreless draw against St. Louis and a 1-1 draw against Columbus. 

San Diego's star Mexican international Chucky Lozano returned to the squad list for the match on Saturday night. 

Although not within the Starting XI, it was the first time he has been listed in the squad list since he suffered his hamstring injury and was forced to come off during San Diego’s historic inaugural match on Match 1 against St. Louis. 

An early moment of controversy came at the 14-minute mark as San Diego forward Alex Mighten appeared to be taken down in the box. However, the contact was deemed not to be enough or directed toward Mighten as the penalty wasn’t given

The dominating start of the match for San Diego paid off in the 21 minute as a ball delivered in the penalty box off a set piece by Anders Dreyer met leaping defender Christopher McVey as he guided his header into the right side of the goal for the 1-0 lead.

Christopher McVey netted his first goal for San Diego FC and his first goal for the 2025 MLS season. 

San Diego doubled up their lead in the 34-minute with another set-piece goal delivered by Anders Dreyer. 

Dreyer's cross into the penalty box seemed to be a routine grab for LAFC’s seasoned veteran Hugo Lloris turned into a disaster for the Frenchmen as he lost control and spilled the ball loose on his landing.

San Diego midfielder Onni Valakari tapped the free ball into the open net to extend the San Diego advantage to two goals. 

Another home match goal for Onni Valakari, recording his second goal of the 2025 season and his second at Snapdragon Stadium.

A great passage of play for San Diego saw defender Jasper Löffelsend thread in a low-driven pass across the goal area with Alex Mighten making the run to the far post as he tapped in San Diego’s third goal of the night with 40 minutes played. 

Alex Mighten opened up his MLS scoring tally with his first career goal in the league and for the club. 

LAFC defender Artem Smolyakov brought his squad back into the match at the 43-minute mark as he received a loose ball from an outside-the-box area and fired a left-footed strike that looped over San Diego goalkeeper CJ dos Santos and bounced off the crossbar into the net to cut into the lead at 3-1.

LAFC wasn’t done as forward Cengiz Ünder touched in a goal off a low-driven cross in the goal area in the fifth minute of added time to the first period. Another late first-half goal for LAFC, finding the net twice in the last ten minutes of the first half, only down a single goal with 45 minutes still left to play. 

Scoring problems for San Diego FC seemed to be answered with three first-half goals but more of the same on the defensive end with concentration and positioning struggles as San Diego conceded two goals in the closing minutes of the first 45 minutes of a match that seemed to be wrapped up early.  

LAFC’s late first-half built momentum took a major blow in the 53-minute as LAFC defender Igor Jesus was sent off after receiving his second yellow for his take-down foul on San Diego midfielder Aníbal Godoy near midfield that stopped a potential counterattack. 

Snapdragon Stadium erupted in delight as their star-designed player Chucky Lozano made his return to the pitch after missing the last three matches due to injury. He replaced midfielder Luca de la Torre at the 72-minute mark. 

A nail-biting finish as San Diego FC held on for the 3-2 victory to earn their first home win in club history in a match that saw San Diego tested as their early three-goal advantage was met with an LAFC two-goal momentum swing. 

“I hope everybody takes notice in San Diego the effort of the guys, the quality of the guys,” San Diego FC head coach Mikes Varas said of his squads’ adjustments and performances on the night. “I thought they were just absolutely lights out, I had goosebumps during that moment.”

“I think we'll all say that we could probably manage it a little bit better,” Varas said.

“The most important thing is a regional rivalry game against a very talented team and we brought our fans a win,” Varas said. “I think that's the most important message here, that these guys fought and left everything on the field.”

The thrilling five-goal first half was met with a scoreless second half as San Diego saw the match out for the historic victory and remain unbeaten at Snapdragon Stadium. 

“That's just us,” San Diego FC forward Alex Mighten said on the first-half offensive showing. “The challenge for us now is how can we replicate that 40 minutes for 90 minutes. We're more than capable. We've got amazing players and an amazing style of play.

“It is such an amazing performance from the crowd,” Mighten said on the impact of the fans at the Snapdragon Stadium against LAFC. “We really need them, especially moments like today where it kind of felt like we're hanging on at times. We don't want it to be like that all the time. But when it is like that, we need the crowd and we need the support on our side. “

After six matches played, San Diego sits in second place in the MLS Western Conference standings on Saturday night, having picked up 11 points off three victories, two draws and a loss. 

A home stand for San Diego FC as they remain at Snapdragon Stadium for next Saturday night's match-up against the Seattle Sounders on April 5 with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. San Diego looks to extend their three-match home unbeaten streak.