SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Luca De La Torre #14 of San Diego FC and Denis Bouanga #99 of LAFC battle for the ball during the first half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Onni Valakari #8 of San Diego FC celebrates after scoring a goal against LAFC during the first half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Onni Valakari #8 of San Diego FC celebrates after scoring a goal against LAFC during the first half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: San Diego FC fans celebrate after a goal against the LAFC during the first half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Christopher McVey #97 of San Diego FC clears a ball against Denis Bouanga #99 of LAFC during the first half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Denis Bouanga #99 of LAFC celebrates with his teammates Marco Delgado #8 and Cengiz Ünder #22 after a goal against the San Diego FC during the first half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Hirving Lozano #11 of San Diego FC reacts as he’s fouled by LAFC during the second half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Onni Valakari #8 of San Diego FC passes against LAFC during the second half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Onni Valakari #8 of San Diego FC takes a shot on goal against Igor Jesus #6 of LAFC during the second half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Anders Dreyer #10 of San Diego FC attacks against LAFC during the second half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Marco Delgado #8 of LAFC and Tomás Ángel #9 of San Diego FC battle for the ball during the second half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Tomás Ángel #9 of San Diego FC attempts a bicycle kick on goal against Hugo Lloris #1 of LAFC during the second half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Hirving Lozano #11 of San Diego FC pass the ball against Aaron Long #33 of LAFC during the second half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Hamady Diop #5 of San Diego FC attacks against Odin Thiago Holm #80 of LAFC during the second half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Alex Mighten #77 of San Diego FC attacks against LAFC during the second half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) Show Caption1 of 15SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 29: Luca De La Torre #14 of San Diego FC and Denis Bouanga #99 of LAFC battle for the ball during the first half of a game at Snapdragon Stadium on March 29, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) Expand SAN DIEGO — They got what they wanted. “Beat L.A. Beat L.A. Beat L.A.” That was the quest Saturday for Major League Soccer expansion team San Diego FC, which hosted the Los Angeles Football Club for the first time and secured a memorable debut victory at Snapdragon Stadium, 3-2. In fact, this was SDFC’s second victory over Los Angeles after just six weeks playing as a team, following its opening day win at the Galaxy with a second conquest over their high-powered neighbors to the north. SDFC (3-1-2, 11 points) grabbed what appeared to be a commanding first-half lead after scoring in the 21st, 33rd and 40th minutes. By finding and creating space with flowing movement and high-octane effort, the MLS newcomers repeatedly tested LAFC, which fell to 3-3-0, good for nine points, in regular season action ahead of the start of a two-leg CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal series against Inter Miami on Wednesday. SDFC’s first two scores came under similar circumstances when free kicks from nearly the same spot 30 yards out pierced the heart of LAFC’s defensive unit. In both cases, Danish midfielder Anders Dreyer delivered dangerous passes to 6-foot-3 defender Christopher McVey. The Swede’s first goal with SDFC gave his side the lead when his header rocketed past Hugo Lloris. McVey nearly had a second just after the half-hour mark, but his headed attempt did not connect and the ball fell to the usually sure-handed Lloris. After the French goalkeeping legend spilled Dreyer’s cross, SDFC team captain Onni Valakari cleaned up the rebound for his second goal of the season. With the crowd bubbling to a roiling boil, San Diego’s pot overflowed late in the opening half when they slashed through LAFC’s defense, setting up forward Alex Mighten for a simple tap-in at the far post. Knowing all about the tenuous nature of three-goal leads in first-ever derby matches versus a California rival (recall the initial El Trafico in 2018), LAFC would not go away without a fight. Before the break, Ukrainian fullback Artem Smolyakov’s left-footed strike from distance glanced off the underside of the bar for his first goal with LAFC. Then, Turkish forward Cengiz Ünder turned a blowout into a nail-biter when he tapped in his debut score for the Black & Gold in the fifth minute of stoppage time. The outburst gave San Diego three times as many goals as the previous six expansion teams had in total since 2019 versus LAFC, which won each of those contests by a combined 15-1. None of them played as fearlessly as SDFC did Saturday. The expansion side pushed for more in a wide-open match that saw LAFC have multiple chances to find an equalizer, even after going down a man in the 53rd minute when midfielder Igor Jesus picked up a second yellow card. Following Jesus’s departure, LAFC had a half-dozen quality chances, including a shot off the post by Nathan Ordaz in the 90th minute, but the equalizer never materialized. ...read more read less