San Diego FC & LA Galaxy finish with 2-2 draw

San Diego FC traveled north to Dignity Health Sports Park to play their second match against LA Galaxy of 2026

San Diego FC played their inaugural match against LA Galaxy at this very park, beating them two to zero. It was a fantastic start to what would be a fantastic first year for the San Diego club. Additionally, it seemed to spark a trend. To this day, SDFC has never lost against any LA Futbol club, including LAFC.

SDFC has even more reason to keep this streak alive, considering scorned former SDFC player Hirving “Chucky” Lozano joined the Galaxy in August 2026. During their reunion match, SD beat LA 3-1. That said, Lozano did score Los Angeles’ lone goal.

While the SDFC franchise is young, tension’s already building between the two Southern California teams.

In any case, Lozano was sidelined this night, so a second reunion would have to wait.

Within two minutes, Galaxy had a shot on goal against SDFC, already playing extremely aggressively, contrasting with the slow and steady SDFC. This proved beneficial as moments later Galaxy player João Klauss connected on a goal.

Galaxy is in the middle of turning their season around, collecting some more points in recent times and keeping their heads in the playoff conversation. Although tonight, it’s clear this is about more than just the score.

Probably one of the largest complaints against SDFC is their lack of adaptability. SDFC hasn’t really shifted their early game strategy much from last year. However, they’re still good at taking advantage of penalties.

A penalty kick granted to SDFC allowed Anders Dreyer to even the score, which he did in the ninth minute.

Special delivery from El Paletero 🍦 https://t.co/fHkWE20y2A

— San Diego FC (@sandiegofc) October 18, 2026

This back-and-forth continued as a corner kick from Klauss again was caught by Pablo Sisniega, but still crossed the bar. However, this play was ruled offside, and the game continued 1-1.

If that goal counted, within 12 minutes LA Galaxy would have scored the entire sum of their previous goals against San Diego. Galaxy would have to settle for doing so in 16 minutes, as Erik Thommy connected on a long shot from just beyond the penalty arc.

If the rivalry between these two teams wasn’t already palpable, it certainly was now.

Galaxy continued this strategy of high aggression, consistently stressing the SDFC defense. This isn’t the first time they’ve dealt with this; their match against the Portland Timbers felt very similar.

SDFC loves possession, but without it, they almost seem directionless. Now trailing by one, they attempted to regain control and force Galaxy to play at their speed. They wanted to slow-burn the LA Club. For a time, this seemed to work, as they consistently put pressure, forcing them to play defense without looking all that aggressive either.

Galaxy still managed to pierce through, giving Anibal Godoy a yellow card and their club a free kick, ultimately blocked by Cisnega.

SDFC ultimately turned the tide after slowly burning the Galaxy, evening the score in the 39th minute thanks to a sliding kick from Gabriel Pirani.

GABI IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME 💥 https://t.co/tLTRN4bdJz

— San Diego FC (@sandiegofc) October 18, 2026

Neither team managed to convert in stoppage time; the two cities were back to square one. SDFC ended the half with 64 percent possession but only 2 shots on target.

After halftime, the game continued with SDFC taking complete control. If you were to just watch the opening moments of the game, it almost seemed completely in Galaxy’s favor. However, now the tide had certainly shifted.

However, that doesn’t mean LA was going to go down without a fight. Even before halftime, they had more shots on target, giving backup goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega plenty of reps.

With twenty minutes left in the match, both teams began to get desperate. Neither one wanted to be the team to concede, but eventually something had to give. A masterful block from Sisnie kept San Diego in the game, and with some fresh guys subbed in, SDFC made their last push with ten minutes left in the match.

However, in contrast to the glitz and glam of the first half, neither team managed to score against each other. SDFC held their defense strong despite being provoked many times by LA.

While SDFC didn’t win against Galaxy, they didn’t lose either. For now, the club holds onto their perfect record against the city just a few hours up Interstate 5.

Fabian Garcia