Los Angeles held San Diego to a 0:1 win in the Major League Soccer regular season on Sunday evening at BMO Stadium. The visitors seized a late lead after a penalty decision, and then saw their scorer sent off in the dying moments. It was a result that kept the hosts in third place while moving San Diego closer to the top half.
And here's the thing — the match appeared destined for a draw until the final quarter. Denis Bouanga thought he had given LAFC the lead in the twenty-first minute, but the goal was cancelled by VAR. To be fair, San Diego had not threatened much before that, and the visitors began to pin the hosts back after the break.
The turning point came in the eighty-eighth minute when Jeppe Tverskov won a penalty for San Diego. Anders Dreyer stepped up and converted in the eighty-ninth minute, giving his side a narrow advantage. By then, both teams had thrown bodies forward, and the game was opening up.
The drama was not over. Dreyer collected a yellow card in the ninetieth minute and another six minutes later, and the referee showed him the red. LAFC also lost Son Heung-min to a straight red in stoppage time, leaving both sides with ten men for the final moments.
The statistics tell a story of control rather than clarity. San Diego dominated possession at sixty per cent and completed 527 passes compared to LAFC's 325. The hosts managed more shots on target, three to two, but San Diego's expected goals figure of 1.14 edged the visitors' 0.94.
LAFC remain third on 39 points from 24 matches, while San Diego sit eighth with 30 points from 23 games. The hosts have won 11 and drawn 6, holding a comfortable cushion over the visitors. This win extends San Diego's recent unbeaten run and gives them something to build on.