San Diego FC’s victory and three points were denied by LAFC’s stoppage-time equalizer, extending their winless run in Major League Soccer (MLS) competition to eight games after a 2-2 draw at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday night.
SDFC are in desperate need of three points heading into Saturday’s game, having gone winless in their last seven league games and looming with a fifth straight defeat looming.
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It won’t be an easy task against in-form Southern California opponents, as LAFC sit top of the Western Conference and have tasted just two defeats in their first ten MLS games to start the season.
Following last season’s series sweep with SDFC’s home and away win over LAFC, San Diego is looking to end its current losing streak while making it three straight wins against the visiting Black and Gold.
Chrome & Azul The biggest change in the starting lineup is the return of goalkeeper CJ Dos Santos, who is making his first start of the 2026 season.
CJ dos Santos last played in a game on November 1, 2025, in Game 3 of the 2025 MLS Cup first-round playoff series against the Portland Timbers, when he was forced off with a broken cheekbone.
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Before his absence, Dos Santos was SDFC’s main goalkeeper in the first season of 2025, starting 30 of 34 league games.
SDFC took the lead 7 minutes into the game when Danish duo Anders Dreher and Marcus Invatsson scored from a set kick to take a 1-0 lead.
Dreher found a leaping Ingvartsson at the near post on a corner kick and headed the ball into the net, leaving LAFC star goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with no chance to react and save.
The club’s leading scorer Ingvartsen extended his 2026 MLS goal tally to six as Dreyer registered his fifth league assist of the season.
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SDFC took complete control of the first half and took a 1-0 lead, winning the battle for possession and chance creation and limiting LAFC’s offense to one shot in the first period, with CJ Dos Santos going untested with zero shots on target.
Snapdragon Stadium was filled with boos and cheers when LAFC star forward Son Heung-min came on as a substitute in the 60th minute.
The Korean started on the bench for the Black and Gold, which saw LAFC make numerous rotations ahead of Wednesday night’s second-leg CONCACAF Champions League semi-final second leg against Toluca.
The Danish duo added another goal in the 71st minute to extend SDFC’s lead to 2-0, with Dreher finding Ingvartsson near the penalty spot, who cut inside with his right foot in the remaining time and fired a low shot into the bottom left corner for his brace of the night.
It was SDFC’s seventh goal, taking Dreher’s MLS assist tally to six.
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LAFC got a goal back in the 82nd minute when Son Heung-min dribbled into the penalty area and passed the ball to forward Denis Buanga, who beat CJ Dos Santos with a shot at the near post to make it 2-1.
The pressure continued to mount on SDFC and CJ dos Santos had to make a flying save on LAFC Tyler Boyd’s left-footed shot in the 87th minute to maintain a slim 2-1 lead.
In the 90th and 4th minutes of the game, CJ Dos Santos had an unfortunate scene. He made a key save, but collided with the sliding foot of LAFC player Denis Buanga, who made full contact with his face.
CJ Dos Santos was quickly attended to by medical staff and was able to leave the field under his own power and was replaced by Duran Ferry for the remainder of the game.
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Entering the 90th+14th minute, LAFC equalized the score with a set kick at the last minute. Mathieu Choiniere, who pulled FC’s back post, headed the ball back to the goal area. Ryan Hollingshead quickly touched the ball and rewritten the score to 2-2.
Los Angeles FC equalized shortly after the final whistle, and SDFC took a two-goal lead in the 71st minute before holding on to a one-point tie at 2-2 on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium.
Santiago FC’s losing streak ended at five games, but the club’s long winless streak continues, having now gone eight consecutive MLS games without a win.
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The avoided defeat allowed SDFC to remain unbeaten against LAFC, with the three games in history ending in two wins and a draw for Chrome & Azul.
After Saturday night’s 2-2 draw with LAFC, SDFC head coach Mikey Varas spoke about his team’s improvement and pointed out the positives in his team’s performance.
“I would say it was a very important step. We got a point. Now it’s a very valuable point to build some momentum in the right direction against a very good team.”
“It feels like a defeat because of how the game went at the end, but it’s not a defeat. It’s just a point. It’s a point we haven’t had in the last five games and we got one against a really good team.”
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“We played a lot of good football and this is the closest we’ll ever get to getting back to our best.”
After two home games, SDFC will travel along the Pacific Ocean to Looman Field next Saturday for Game 12 of the MLS 2026 season, taking on the host Seattle Sounders on May 9 at 7:30 pm