Anders Dreyer put on one of the performances of the MLS season on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium, setting up all three San Diego goals in a 3-1 win over LA Galaxy. San Diego controlled the game despite finishing with ten men and extended their unbeaten home record against their SoCal rivals, according to thesportingtribune.com. Elias Achouri, Kieran Sargeant and substitute Amahl Pellegrino did the scoring, while Hirving Lozano grabbed a consolation in what the San Diego Union-Tribune described as a contentious return to the city for the former FC Barcelona winger.
Key Moments
- 11′, Elias Achouri opens the scoring, converting an Anders Dreyer assist to give San Diego an early lead.
- 48′, Kieran Sargeant doubles the advantage three minutes into the second half, again set up by Dreyer, making it 2-0.
- 50′, Jeppe Tverskov receives his second yellow card of the evening and is sent off, leaving San Diego with ten men.
- 55′, Hirving Lozano pulls one back for LA Galaxy to make it 2-1, threatening a comeback as San Diego play a man short.
- 61′, A Kyogo Furuhashi goal is disallowed by VAR for a foul, keeping San Diego’s lead intact at a critical moment.
- 70′, Amahl Pellegrino, on the pitch for just a few minutes after coming on for Achouri, finishes a third Dreyer assist to seal the win at 3-1.
Tactical Breakdown
San Diego set up in a 4-3-3 under Mikey Varas and were the more dangerous side despite surrendering the ball. LA Galaxy held 56% possession and completed 470 of 529 passes, but their attacking output was limited almost entirely to efforts from outside the box, 12 of their 17 shots coming from distance. San Diego, by contrast, concentrated their 20 shots in dangerous areas, putting 13 inside the box against an xG of 2.41 compared to Galaxy’s 0.91. CJ Dos Santos was kept busy with six saves, but the quality of Galaxy’s chances rarely matched the volume of their build-up play.
The dismissal of Jeppe Tverskov in the 50th minute threatened to change the shape of the match entirely. Within five minutes Hirving Lozano had scored and Galaxy had a goal ruled out by VAR, briefly making Snapdragon nervous. Varas responded quickly, bringing on Christopher McVey to shore up the defense at the 66th minute and withdrawing Achouri for Amahl Pellegrino a minute later. That substitution proved decisive: Pellegrino needed only four minutes on the pitch before latching onto Dreyer’s third assist of the night to restore a two-goal cushion and effectively end the contest.
For LA Galaxy, the evening highlighted a persistent problem: their xG of 0.91 tells the story of a side that circulated the ball neatly but rarely created clear-cut chances. Joseph Paintsil and Kyogo Furuhashi were kept quiet by a San Diego backline that absorbed pressure effectively, and the VAR disallowance at the 61st minute proved to be their last realistic moment of hope.
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Verdict
The win moves San Diego to 30 points, eighth in the Western Conference and comfortably inside the playoff positions, while LA Galaxy drop further back at 13th on 26 points after having played more games than most sides around them. San Diego’s record against Galaxy in this fixture remains perfect according to thesportingtribune.com, and on a night when they played the final 40 minutes with ten men, the depth of their squad and the individual quality of Dreyer made the difference.