Hirving “Chucky” Lozano returned to Snapdragon Stadium Saturday night to a chorus of boos, scored against his former club and nearly helped erase a two-goal deficit.
San Diego FC still got the last word.
Reduced to 10 men in the 50th minute, SDFC absorbed the Galaxy’s pressure, survived an apparent equalizer and counterpunched for a 3-1 victory before a charged crowd of 27,971, climbing into eighth place in the Western Conference while dropping Los Angeles to 13th.
Elias Achouri, Kieran Sargeant and Amahl Pellegrino scored for San Diego (8-8-6, 30 points), which won its second consecutive MLS match and fifth straight at Snapdragon Stadium across all competitions. Lozano scored for the Galaxy (6-9-8, 26 points) in his first match back in San Diego since being loaned to Los Angeles three weeks ago.
The match turned dramatically during a seven-minute stretch after halftime.
Sargeant made it 2-0 in the 48th minute, arriving at the back post and finishing Anders Dreyer’s cross with a left-footed shot from near the left side of the six-yard box. It was the first MLS goal for the defender, who was making his 11th start and 13th appearance of the season.
“It’s something we work a lot on in training, to be arriving at the back post,” Sargeant said. “Anders is very good with his left foot, and as you saw, he hit it almost perfect … and it was just my job to be there.”
Two minutes later, SDFC captain Jeppe Tverskov received his second yellow card and was sent off. He will miss San Diego’s next MLS match.
Five minutes after that, Lozano pounced on a botched clearance inside the penalty area and drove a right-footed shot into the bottom-left corner to cut the lead to 2-1.
The Galaxy appeared to tie it in the 61st minute. Lozano knocked Oscar Verhoeven down while taking possession and fed Kyogo Furuhashi, who scored from the left side of the box. The goal was wiped away after VAR determined Lozano had fouled Verhoeven.
San Diego chose to respond rather than retreat.
Pellegrino, who replaced Achouri in the 67th minute, restored the two-goal cushion three minutes later. Dreyer surged down the left side during a counterattack and played the ball into the box, where Pellegrino drove a right-footed shot into the bottom-right corner.
The goal was Pellegrino’s third of the season and gave him six goal contributions.
He has appeared in four consecutive matches since returning Aug. 15 from an Achilles injury that had sidelined him since before the summer international break.
“It’s been tough,” Pellegrino said of the recovery. “The injury was pretty bad. I still don’t feel I’m close to where I want to be, but I’ve been working hard to try to put myself in the best position to be able to do what I love.”
SDFC coach Mikey Varas called his team’s response after the red card a display of “guts” and “resiliency.”
“It takes a mentality of not feeling sorry for yourself and making excuses but just getting on with it,” Varas said. “Can you press a little higher? Can you have a longer possession? Can you break their press? Can you counterattack them?
“That’s what I’m most happy about.”
Before the game became an exercise in survival, San Diego controlled it.
Achouri opened the scoring in the 11th minute after Onni Valakari, starting at center forward for the second straight game, this time in place of an injured Marcus Ingvartsen, helped switch the attack toward Dreyer.
Dreyer kept the play alive near the right end line and quickly found Achouri inside the six-yard box for the finish.
Achouri has scored in consecutive home matches and said his transition into San Diego’s system has gone about as smoothly as he anticipated.
“When I saw the quality around me, I just knew directly that it will be a great fit,” Achouri said. “People haven’t seen the best of me, but I’m on a good way.”
Dreyer officially finished with two assists, giving him 11 this season, tied for the MLS lead. He has 19 goal contributions overall. Valakari’s assist extended his streak to three consecutive matches with a goal contribution and gave him seven assists this season.
The Blue and Chrome led 1-0 at halftime after controlling 57.2% of possession and outshooting the Galaxy 13-4.
The second half flipped after Tverskov’s dismissal. Los Angeles finished with 52.9% possession and an 8-6 advantage in shots on target, although San Diego still held a 19-17 edge in total shots.
The Galaxy’s best chance before the break came through Lozano in first-half stoppage time. His pass sprung Marco Reus through the middle, but CJ Dos Santos made a diving stop on Reus’ right-footed shot to preserve the lead.
That was only the beginning of Dos Santos’ workload. He finished with seven saves, several after San Diego went down a man.
“Those are the performances that you need from a goalkeeper,” Varas said, calling them “fireman actions” that lifted the team.
Lozano had been booed during warmups on the north side of the field, and his first touch 1 minute, 39 seconds into the match drew another loud reaction. The crowd grew especially loud in the 36th minute when he approached the corner flag before Reus ultimately took the kick.
The reception continued after Lozano scored, adding another layer to a derby that already carried significant playoff consequences.
Varas preferred to frame the night around what SDFC did rather than who came back.
“Tonight’s about San Diego,” he said. “It’s about all the people of San Diego. It’s about Frontera SD. It’s about every single fan. It’s about the players on the field that left everything for the badge.”
The victory improved SDFC to 6-3-3 at home in MLS and 10-3-3 at Snapdragon Stadium across all competitions. San Diego is 8-1-3 when scoring first and 6-0-3 when leading at halftime.
SDFC also remained perfect against the Galaxy at 3-0-0 and improved to 4-0-1 overall against the two Los Angeles clubs. The Galaxy will get another chance Oct. 17 in Carson.
More immediately, San Diego has pushed itself above the playoff line after spending much of the summer chasing it.
SDFC next travels to face Orlando City SC on Sept. 5 at Inter&Co Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.