LAFC suffered a 3-2 loss to San Diego FC on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium in the first-ever meeting between the two sides. Artem Smolyakov and Cengiz Ünder each scored for LAFC late in a wild first half, but it was not enough to overcome a three-goal deficit. With the loss, LAFC is now 3W-3L-0D on the season for nine points, leaving the club in seventh place in the MLS Western Conference.
San Diego FC jumped out to a 3-0 lead inside the opening 40 minutes thanks to goals from Chris McVey, Onni Valakari and Alex Mighten before LAFC began its comeback.
In the 43rd minute, Smolyakov cut the deficit to 3-1 with his first goal for LAFC, a left-footed parabola from outside the box that sailed past San Diego goalkeeper CJ dos Santos and into the net.
Seven minutes later, deep into first-half stoppage time, Ünder made it 3-2 on a play that began with Denis Bouanga’s long ball to an advancing Sergi Palencia on the right wing. Palencia's low cross went across the face of goal to Mark Delgado, who played a one-time pass to Ünder. The new DP's tap-in sent LAFC into the halftime break trailing by just a goal.
LAFC was reduced to 10 men early in the second half when Igor Jesus was shown his second yellow card and was sent off.
Despite playing a man down for the final 37 minutes plus stoppage time, LAFC created the better chances as they searched for an equalizer. Bouanga and David Martínez each came close to tying the score on multiple occasions, while second-half substitute Nathan Ordaz hit the post in the 90th minute.
LAFC is back in action on Wednesday night in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Quarterfinal series against Inter Miami at BMO Stadium. That game kicks off at 8:30 p.m. PT and can be seen live on FOX and FOX Deportes.
NOTES
- With the loss, LAFC is now 3W-3L-0D in MLS Regular Season play for nine points.
- Tonight’s game was the first-ever meeting between LAFC and San Diego FC, and marked the first time LAFC has lost to an expansion team in nine meetings. LAFC had been 7-0-1 in eight games against expansion teams.
- All-time, LAFC is now 17-16-6 against the other three MLS teams in California. On the road, LAFC is now 4-13-2 against the LA Galaxy, San Jose Earthquakes and San Diego FC compared to 13-2-4 at home against those same clubs.
- LAFC is now 0-5-0 this year when conceding the game’s first goal compared to a perfect 5-0-0 when scoring first.
- Artem Smolyakov and Cengiz Ünder each scored their first MLS goal in the match. They are the first LAFC teammates to score their first goal for the club in the same regular-season game since Timothy Tillman and Stipe Biuk opened their accounts on March 12, 2023, in a 4-0 win over New England.
- Mark Delgado collected his team-best second assist of the season on Ünder’s goal.
- Sergi Palencia was also credited with an assist, his first of the season, on Ünder’s goal.
- Ryan Hollingshead also came on as a second-half substitute, making his 99th regular-season appearance for the club. He will become the ninth player in club history to play 100 regular-season games with his next appearance.
