San Diego FC bounce back with dominant 5-0 win over FC Dallas

Hirving “Chucky” Lozano celebrates one of his goals in San Diego FC’s 5-0 victory over FC Dallas. (Photo credit: San Diego FC)

San Diego FC burst out of their three match losing streak with a dominant 5-0 victory over FC Dallas at Snapdragon stadium in front of an announced crowd of 27,105.

The Chrome and Azul had conceded three goals in each of their past three matches, but turned the result on its head with a dominant performance as they dominated in possession and kept their opposition from creating any major scoring opportunities.

“I’m just so proud of the boys, how they came together. They’ve been coming together, in Spanish we say, en las buenas y en las malas,” said head coach Mikey Varas which translates to: in the good times and the bad. “Always together united with our conviction and our effort. That’s what they’ve been doing from day one.” 

Varas switched up the lineup on the attacking end as he moved star forward Anders Dreyer centrally in the striker’s spot and put Alex Mighten on the right wing in place of Oni Valakari who had been playing as a striker, but struggled to score. 

“We went through a little bit of a rough patch and we also had good moments, and then now we bounce back and we bounce back in a big way because we played a good game,” Varas said. “We played so bravely. We played with intensity, collectivity, and it’s always coming from the training ground over and over.”

Varas’ lineup change worked out perfectly as they both helped spark the scoring. Mighten drew the penalty that would lead to SDFC’s first goal. It came in the 18th minute as Mighten was pinched between two defenders just as he entered the 18-yard box. The foul was light, but there was enough contact to result in a call for the home side. 

Hirving “Chucky” Lozano took the shot and though the goalkeeper got his hand to the shot the ball managed to roll into the back of the net to make it 1-0.  

Seven minutes later SDFC forced a counterattack with Anders Dreyer in the center of the pitch he waited patiently for his team to get open then sent a perfect through ball into the penalty area through multiple defenders for the speedy Lozano. 

Lozano drew the goalkeeper off his line before cutting to the right and slotting in a simple shot to make it 2-0. 

SDFC kept the pressure on, but Mighten had to be subbed off in the 38th minute due to injury. Valakri came on in his place moving Dreyer back to the wing. 

The second half began a bit differently as the FC Dallas high press built them some momentum for the first few minutes, but the SDFC midfield and defense held strong and kept them from putting forth quality shots on target.

Dreyer made it 3-0 in the 56th minute after Lozano and Valakari connected on the left side of the pitch to move the ball up quickly including a beautiful give and go that put Lozano in a strong position. Lozano drew the defense to him with his run leaving Dreyer open on the right side. Dreyer made a clinical shot with his first touch to send it past the goalkeeper. 

Oni Valakari added on as well in the 73rd minute with a strong right footed strike that nearly went over the top post. Instead the ball deflected off the post and just behind the line to make it 4-0. 

San Diego native, Milan Iloski, completed the night with a goal in the 87th minute and celebrated with the supporter’s section, Frontera SD, for a final score of 5-0. 

“The performance was the most important thing. We put together a complete performance, because sometimes you’re going to have bad luck, but if you play your style and you repeat it at a high level over and over again, you know luck will swing your way at some point,” Varas said. “More than the points, it was the performance that I’m so happy about, because that’s a foundation we’re laying that will create sustainable success in the future.”

San Diego FC play their next match on the road on Saturday, May 10, to face St. Louis City SC for the second time this season. The last meeting between the two most recent expansion clubs ended in a scoreless draw in SDFC’s first ever home match.