SDFC continues May hot streak, but fan fights at Snapdragon shift focus from win

San Diego FC was mere moments away from having its latest match end in a draw on Saturday but the club managed to seal a last-minute achievement at Snapdragon Stadium They can thank star Chucky Lozano who connected with a header to earn the - win over the woeful L A Galaxy During the match s th minute and very near the end of the five minutes of stoppage time Lozano nailed a header in front of the center of the goal into the net s middle-right zone Despite the reason for celebration San Diego State University police along with San Diego police and San Diego County sheriff s deputies were forced to try to quell fights in the stands that carried over to Snapdragon s parking lot Multiple alterations were published inside and outside of the stadium involving rivalry fan groups SDSU police revealed in a news release Preliminary information indicates the altercations involved individual fans of both teams It was bad enough at one point that a crew member in a law enforcement helicopter hovering over the stadium ordered fans to leave and warned they would be arrested if they failed to do so One individual sustained minor injuries according to SDSU police though they reported it is unclear whether the injury was directly related to the fights At this time we cannot confirm any arrests executives added After the match SDFC head coach Mikey Varas briefly addressed the issue in English and Spanish He declared the club was still gathering information but also noted that SDFC already had to face a dilemma at the beginning of the season when several fans engaged in a homophobic chant at SDFC s inaugural home contest Our club values are really clear There s no place for violence in this sport he announced Saturday The tournament Varas declared is supposed to bring happiness and Lozano certainly tried to deliver it for fans when his goal broke the - tie with the Galaxy winless so far this season The L A side was the best crew in MLS last season and won the MLS Cup in December But this season despite being one of Major League Soccer s marquee franchises L A has an eye-popping - - record by far the league s worst with four points total San Diego on the other hand still hasn t lost a match in the month of May and is on a five-game unbeaten streak With the win the club also swept the season series against the Galaxy they won their inaugural match - in L A in February SDFC s record stands at - - with points good enough for second place in the Western Conference Saturday s match was level at one goal apiece at the half After a mundane initial minutes with no goals the challenge sprang to life when Galaxy attacking midfielder Diego Fag ndez connected with the back of the net on a right-footed shot to the net s central bottom zone Not to be outdone in the st minute SDFC midfielder Luca de la Torreretaliated with a right-footed shot from the center of the goal to the net s middle-right zone It was the third goal of the season for de la Torre a San Diego native on loan to SDFC from Spanish club Celta Vigo At halftime it seemed as if either side was capable of winning as the clubs managed to prevent each other from scoring during the vast majority of the second half But late in the contest the Galaxy imploded and committed defensive errors that SDFC capitalized on preponderance notably the game-sealing header by Lozano The goal was Lozano s fifth of the year for San Diego Our club values are really clear There's no place for violence in this sport A message from Mikey pic twitter com XLLhrSX Wp San Diego FC sandiegofc May SDFC entered matchday with a - - record in May and unbeaten in its previous four matches The club was coming off a scoreless draw against Sporting Kansas City last week Over its last five matches including the win against the Galaxy San Diego hasoutscored opponents - while holding three of those opponents scoreless Up next SDFC travels to the Pacific Northwest for a match against the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday After that San Diego concludes its five-game May homestand when it hosts Austin FC at Snapdragon May Notes SDFC s Marcus Ingvartsen leg Hamady Diop hip and Andres Reyes hip remain on the injured list Among those in attendance Saturday was legendary masked professional wrestler Rey Mysterio a native of Chula Vista whose finishing move the is a shout to for San Diego