March 11 – San Diego FC is rapidly becoming the ‘it’ team in Major League Soccer, with their latest dismantling of Mexican royalty, this time in the form of Toluca, simply breathtaking during the 1st leg of their Champions Cup round of 16 game.
Much like their round of 32 tie against Pumas UNAM, SDFC had to dig deep for their 3-2 win, coming from not only a goal behind, but a man down after striker Marcus Ingvartsen left his foot in the face of Marcel Ruíz while attempting to clear a corner. Referee Walter Alexander López Castellanos had no choice but to issue a red card and point to the penalty spot.
Jesús Gallardo made no mistake from 12 yards to send a portion of the stadium that braved US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown into delirium.
Down to 10 men, there had to be a period of adjustment from Mikey Varas’s team, and they sat back and soaked up the pressure, while looking for every opportunity to slow and delay the game.
That patience was rewarded handsomely in the 32nd minute when David Vazquez conjured up an equalizer that stunned the visitors with a beautiful left-footed strike from an astute Amahl Pellegrino pass.
Despite being a man down, SDFC more than deserved to go into the break tied 1-1.
Toluca, led by Argentine, Antonio Mohamed, would’ve felt confident in the locker room that their man advantage would pay off, but no one told that to San Diego, who roared out of the traps and, within seconds of the restart, had forced two saves from Hugo González, however even he was powerless to deny David Vazquez who powered an exquisite shot that flew past the Mexican to give the home side the 2-1 lead.
Smelling blood, 10-man San Diego moved in for the kill, and the talisman of the club delivered. Anders Dreyer is widely recognized as one of the best foreign imports in the league, and he showed exactly why with a left-footed shot from outside the box of extraordinary quality to give the home side a 3-1 lead. But the drama was just beginning.
Toluca have been sensational in Liga MX all season, and with the man advantage, they knew that if they could keep the ball moving, they would tire San Diego out.
With wave after wave, the Mexicans kept probing. A crazy pinball of action in San Diego’s box saw Paulinho’s goal-bound shot blocked by Manu Duah. It looked like a clear handball by the San Diego defender. Castellanos was unsure and issued a yellow card and pointed to the penalty spot. VAR insisted on another look, and the yellow card was rightly upgraded to a straight red as Duah, clearly, threw out an arm to block Paulinho’s shot. Helinho made no mistake scoring the second Toluca penalty of the match.
The 4th official signaled eight minutes of stoppage time. San Diego was now down to 9 players, and Toluca would throw everything they had in search of an equalizer, but to no avail.
The final whistle couldn’t come soon enough for Varas’s team, and they’ll now head back to Mexico City with the precious one-goal lead but without the services of Duah and Ingvartsen. Toluca will look at the two priceless away goals and know any one-goal victory will probably see them pass into the quarter-finals.
Ultimately, this was the CONCACAF Champions Cup at its finest. End-to-end action. Goals. Red cards. Penalties. You couldn’t write this script, and there’s still an act to go.
1st Leg: San Diego FC 3 – 2 Toluca