San Diego FC played its 15th game of the 2025 MLS regular season this Saturday, May 24. SDFC hosted the LA Galaxy at Snapdragon Stadium for their second encounter of the year.

There was plenty of buzz about this match, given the ongoing rivalry between San Diego and Los Angeles-based teams. Fans responded, as 30,114 spectators filled the Mission Valley fortress for this early afternoon game. This included a full LA Galaxy supporter’s section, along with several Galaxy fans who made the trip down to the Snap.

30,114 announced attendance today at Snapdragon Stadium for San Diego FC vs. LA Galaxy.@EVT_News pic.twitter.com/2dDCV8ffFT

— Francisco Velasco (@FranciscoEfV) May 24, 2025

San Diego defeated the Galaxy 2-0 in their first meeting of the season back on February 23 in Carson, Calif.

Unlike that first encounter, San Diego was the heavy favorite heading into this match. SDFC was on a four-game undefeated streak, while the Los Angeles team was on a 14-game winless streak to start the year.

Mikey Varas only made one change to the starting 11 that faced Sporting Kansas City during the week: Willy Kumado replaced Oscar Verhoeven. Varas has shown week by week that the fullback positions are not secure for any player on the roster, with constant rotations in those slots.

San Diego began the first half with plenty of possession, but struggled to generate offensive play in the opening minutes. LA Galaxy had more clear scoring opportunities and turned that into the first goal of the match in the 40th minute. Diego Fagundez scored from a very well-loctaed shot from just inside of the penalty area.

Fagundez was assisted by German superstar Marco Reus, who had been locked down by the SDFC backline before this.

However, San Diego was persistent and quickly came back with a goal in the 41st minute by Luca de la Torre. The goal was via a fantastic collective effort with passes forward that started from the backline. The last stretch of the scoring drive consisted of quick-paced passed from Willy Kumado to Jeppe Tverskov and then to Luca de la Torre, who scored the goal.

The first half was very hard-fought, even though San Diego controlled most of the possession at 60 percent. The visitors managed to generate quite a bit of scoring play, seeing much less of the sphere in the opening 45 minutes.

The rivalry was in the air in the second half, with some intense clashes between both sides. In terms of scoring opportunities, there was not much to write home about in the second half.

However, there were some controversial calls and direct encounters between opposing players that kept the atmosphere vibrant. One of the more significant plays towards the end of the match was when Hirving Lozano showcased his defensive skills.

watch Chucky chase this guy down… pic.twitter.com/m8wOyIlNsw

— San Diego FC (@sandiegofc) May 24, 2025

“Chucky” chased down a Galaxy player to recover the sphere and was subsequently fouled by Marco Reus on the play, who received a yellow card.

Snapdragon Stadium erupted in “Chucky Lozano” chants after that play, where the Mexican international displayed his grit and persistence.

Both teams really struggled creatively, and this was more evident in the second half. Mikey Varas brought on Oscar Verhoeven, Milan Illoski, and Onni Valakari in the second half, but none really made a significant impact on the match.

Despite really struggling to generate some concrete scoring plays, SDFC never stopped pushing for that late goal. This paid off with a seemingly miraculous late-game winner by Hirving “Chucky” Lozano in stoppage time.

CHUCKY LOZANO FOR THE WIN IN THE 95TH MINUTE 😱@sandiegofc | @MLS pic.twitter.com/5TIdXoZAk3

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) May 24, 2025

Anders Dreyer crossed the ball into the box, where “Chucky” was left alone for an open header to score the game-winner. Lozano was named the man of the match for his efforts in what were a very important three points for San Diego FC.

San Diego FC defeats LA Galaxy 2-1 at Snapdragon Stadium.@EVT_News pic.twitter.com/1oOF9GaMb3

— Francisco Velasco (@FranciscoEfV) May 24, 2025

SDFC are now on a five-game undefeated streak with four wins in this stretch, while the Galaxy continue to be winless this season.

Francisco Velasco

Francisco, 28, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego FC, San Diego Wave. I have covered Liga MX, MLS, Mexico National Team, USWNT, Copa América and European clubs like Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund.