SDFC's win slips away late in 2-2 draw with LAFC

CJ dos Santos last played on November 1, 2025, in Game Three of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoff Round One series against the Portland Timbers, where he was forced off with a season-ending fractured cheekbone injury.

Before the sidelining, dos Santos was SDFC’s main goalkeeper of their 2025 inaugural season, having started 30 of the 34 league matches.

SDFC opened the scoring early, taking the 1-0 lead at the 7-minute mark with the Danish duo of Anders Dreyer and Marcus Ingvartsen connecting off a set piece.

Dreyer, on the corner kick delivery, found the leaping Ingvartsen at the near post, as he drove a headed shot into the ground and into the net, leaving LAFC star goalkeeper Hugo Lloris no chance on a reaction save.

Club leading scorer, Ingvartsen, grew his 2026 MLS scoring tally to six goals with Dreyer collecting his fifth league assist on the season.

SDFC closed out the half in full control and the 1-0 lead, having won the possession and chance creation battle as well as limiting the LAFC attack to one shot through the first period, leaving CJ dos Santos untested with zero shots on target.

A mixture of boos and cheers flooded Snapdragon Stadium at the 60-minute mark, as LAFC star forward Son Heung-Min came on as a substitute.

The South Korean started on the bench for the Black & Gold, with LAFC’s squad seeing many rotations due to their second leg against Toluca in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final coming up on Wednesday night.

The Danish duo struck once again in the 71-minute to grow the SDFC lead to 2-0, as Dreyer found Ingvartsen near the penalty spot, with Ingvartsen doing the rest to cut back onto his right foot and blast a low driven shot into the bottom left corner of the goal for his brace on the night.

That’s goal number seven for SDFC’s number seven, with Dreyer moving up to six assists in the MLS.

LAFC pulled one back in the 82-minute with Son off a dashing dribble into the penalty area, laid off a pass for forward Denis Bouanga, whose shot beat CJ dos Santos at the near post to make the 2-1 scoreline.

The pressure continued to grow for SDFC, as CJ dos Santos had to make a flying goal-saving play in the 87-minute off a LAFC Tyler Boyd rising left-footed shot to maintain their slim 2-1 lead.

Unfortunate scenes at the 90+4 minute of the match for CJ dos Santos, making a crucial save but colliding with the sliding foot of LAFC’s Denis Bouanga, which made full contact with his face.

CJ dos Santos was quickly attended to by the medical staff and was able to walk off the field on his own power, as he was replaced by Duran Ferree for the remainder of the match.

Into the 90+14 minute, LAFC got the match all knotted up with a very late set piece equalizer as LAFC’s Mathieu Choiniere at the back post headed the ball back into the goal area for Ryan Hollingshead as he got the swift touch and finish for the 2-2 score.

The full-time whistle came shortly after LAFC’s leveler, with SDFC’s two-goal lead at the 71-minute mark finishing in a 2-2 single-point draw earned on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium.

The losing streak ends at five matches for San Diego FC, but the long winless period continues for the club, now up to eight straight MLS matches without a win.

The avoided loss keeps SDFC unbeaten against LAFC, with the three all-time meetings ending in two wins and a draw for the Chrome & Azul.

Following the 2-2 draw against LAFC on Saturday night, SDFC head coach Mikey Varas spoke on the team’s progress and pointed to positives in the performance.

“What I would say it's a really important step. We got a point. That's a very worthwhile point right now to get us building some momentum in the right direction against a very good team.”

“It feels like a loss because of how it unfolds at the end of the game, but it's not a loss. It's one point. It's one point where we haven't gained points in the last five and we gained a point against a very good team.”

“We played a lot of good football, and this is the closest we’ve been to getting back to our best.”

After a two-match homestand, SDFC travels up the Pacific to Lumen Field next Saturday for matchday 12 of the MLS 2026 season to face off against the hosting Seattle Sounders on May 9, kickoff at 7:30 p.m.