San Diego FC comes up short in Leagues Cup debut, edged out 3-2 by Pachuca

Tuesday night at Snapdragon Stadium saw late drama as San Diego FC’s comeback attempt just fell short, leaving them empty-handed in their Leagues Cup Phase One opener. 

With their lengthy homestand halfway through, San Diego FC hosted their fourth consecutive home match, with C.F. Pachuca visiting on Tuesday night for their opening match of this year's Leagues Cup.

July 29 through August 5 will see San Diego FC host three Liga MX clubs for three Phase One matches of the Leagues Cup at Snapdragon Stadium.

A memorable matchday for San Diego FC, as their matchup with Pachuca marks not only their first official match against a Liga MX opponent but also their first Leagues Cup participation and first official match outside Major League Soccer. 

Tuesday night was an emotional night for Chucky Lozano, playing against his boyhood club, having last played for C.F. Pachuca in their 2016/17 Liga MX Clausura before departing for Europe.

Both clubs came into the match sitting at the top of their respective leagues or conferences, with San Diego FC first in the MLS Western Conference through 25 games played, and Pachuca at the top of Liga MX Apertura 25/26 through their first three matches. 

The opening 20 minutes saw San Diego FC carry on their usual possession-dominant style of play, but they were unable to capitalize on the scoreboard.

The biggest attempt of the half for San Diego FC came off a well-timed far post cross by defender Luca Bombino for midfielder/captain Jeppe Tverskov in the 13-minute. 

Tversokv timed his run well and got over his defender, but was unable to place his header attempt on target, missing the chance to open up the scoring for the home squad. 

Chucky Lozano got his chance to mark a goal against his boyhood club in the 18-minute, but his cut-back low driven right-footed shot went inches wide of the bottom left post, as San Diego were unable to make the most of their early momentum. 

Despite that overwhelming offensive pressure created by the home side, Pachuca broke the deadlock in the 23-minute with forward Alexéi Domínguez starting off the counter-attacking and slipping midfielder Víctor Guzmán through on goal for a one-on-one opportunity. 

Guzmán's initial shot from inside the penalty box was saved by San Diego FC goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega, but the ball ricocheted off Guzmán's face and bounced into the net, leaving San Diego FC defender Manu Duah unsuccessful on his goal line chase with Pachuca taking the 1-0 lead.

Pachuca looked to have taken a two-goal advantage on the night in the 42-minute coming off a messy corner kick finding the net, but the assistant referee quickly raised the offside flag, disallowing the 2-0 goal. 

But Pachuca didn’t end the half without doubling up their advantage, as in the 45+3 minute of the first period forward Alexéi Domínguez started another piercing counter-attack, only this time finishing the chance himself.

After dribbling the ball from the halfway line into the penalty box and having his first attempt saved by Pablo Sisniega, the ball wasn’t fully dealt with and landed back on Domínguez's feet as he cut onto his left foot and curled a ground shot into the bottom left corner to take the 2-0 lead into the halftime break. 

Although leaving the half in commanding control of possession with a 60%-40% advantage over Pachuca, San Diego FC were unable to get a grip of Pachuca’s counter-attacking play as they converted two goals from nine total shots, six of which were on target. 

20-year-old Alexéi Domínguez’s man of the match night wasn’t finished yet after contributing to the opening goal and a goal of his own in the first half, as he completed a brace in the 67-minute off a wonderful long-distance strike that caught the top left corner of the goal. 

The shot left Sisniega no chance for an intervention as Pachuca grew their advantage to 3-0 with only 20 minutes left to play. 

San Diego FC finally got on the board in the 88-minute, with forward Emmanuel Boateng getting a first-time tapping finish near the goal area, assisted by defender Aiden Harangi on his San Diego FC debut.

Although the match went into the added injury time with a two-goal separation, the closing minutes contained the most fiery and intense moments of the match. 

In an act of frustration, San Diego FC's Anders Dreyer was shown a straight red card in the 90+2-minute after his center of the field tangling up with Pachuca midfielder Elías Montiel ended with Dreyer kicking out into Montiel’s torso. 

San Diego FC star forward Anders Dreyer will be suspended for a minimum of one match following his straight red card.

“I'm sure he would like to take it back, but these things happen,” San Diego FC head coach Mikey Varas said on Anders Dreyer's red card against Pachuca.  

San Diego FC found the net once again, this time in the 90+10 minutes, with midfielder/captain Jeppe Tverskov’s centered cross into the box being met with a charging Luca Bombino header into the net. 

The very late comeback attempt by the home side was too little too late as time ran out on San Diego FC, and the full-time whistle blew at 3-2 with San Diego finishing their opening Leagues Cup match empty-handed on points.

San Diego FC head coach Mikey Varas spoke at the post-match press conference about his squad's character shown in the 3-2 loss against Pachuca on Tuesday night. 

“It's our first time playing in Leagues Cup. I think it was a big challenge. It's a really good team in Pachuca. Well-coached, really good players.”

“Our guys kept pushing for the game. And something I'm really proud about is the character of the group, down three-zero to bring it back, three-two, score a goal, player down, and to get ourselves into some pretty dangerous situations where it could be three-three.”

“I think if we play five more minutes, we could be sitting here with a three-three result, but it wasn't our day.”

San Diego FC will look to earn their first points of the tournament on Friday night, taking on eight-time Mexican champions Tigres UANL in their second match in Phase One of the Leagues Cup. The match is set to kick off at Snapdragon Stadium at 8 p.m. on August 1.

With only three matches guaranteed in Phase One and just the top four teams of the 18-club MLS table moving on into the competition's quarter-final stages, Friday night is a must-win situation for San Diego FC's hopes of advancing.