Christopher McVey, Onni Valakari and Alex Mighten scored in the first 40 minutes, and San Diego FC went on to a 3-2 victory over Los Angeles FC on Saturday night to get their first home win in team history.
LAFC put up two goals late in the first half by Artem Smolyakov and Cengiz Under but could not get over hump against San Diego (3-1-2, 11 points)
during a physical match that featured a combined 20 fouls and seven yellow cards.
LAFC (3-3-0, 9 points) controlled most of the play the rest of the way and went with 10 men after Igor Jesus picked up his second yellow card for fouling Anibal Godoy in the 53rd minute.
San Diego goalie CJ dos Santos made two saves, including consecutive stops on David Martinez from close range in the 59th and 65th minutes. LAFC finished with 12 shot attempts, four on goal.
LAFC goalie Hugo Lloris made two saves as San Diego attempted 14 shots, six on goal.
McVey opened the scoring in the 21st minute when he leapt over LAFC defender Sergi Palencia and swept in a header into the left side of the net from the middle of the box.
San Diego scored again 13 minutes later as Valakari swept in a loose ball into the open net from the center of the box after Lloris misplayed the ball following a set piece.
San Diego opened a three-goal lead shortly after it gained possession near midfield and rushed into the box.
After four passes, Mighten took a feed from Valakari and saw his left-footed shot from about 6 yards out graze the post and trickle into the bottom right corner.
Los Angeles recovered from the goals and scored twice in the final eight minutes of the half. After San Diego could not clear in front of its net, Smolyakov blasted a left-footed shot from outside the box before defender Godoy could react.
Right before halftime, LAFC made it a one-goal affair when Under chipped the ball into the open net from the center of the box.
After Martinez was stopped twice, LAFC missed a golden opportunity at the tying goal in the final minute before stoppage time when Nathan Ordaz saw his shot curve wide right and hit the post.
–Field Level Media
