Hirving Lozano recorded two goals and two assists in San Diego FC’s 5-0 rout over visiting FC Dallas on Saturday.
San Diego (5-4-2, 17 points) decisively ended its three-match losing streak with the biggest margin of victory in its inaugural season. The previous high was a 3-0 win over the Seattle Sounders on April 5.
FC Dallas (4-4-3, 15 points) sustained their most lopsided defeat of the season, as well as their first away loss. The Toros were 3-0-3 in their previous six road matches.
San Diego goalkeeper CJ dos Santos made two saves for his fourth shutout of the season.
Anders Dreyer and Onni Valakari each had a goal and two assists for San Diego FC. Milan Iloski scored SDFC’s other goal.
Signed to designated player contracts during the offseason, Lozano and Dreyer have already made huge impacts. Lozano has four goals and six assists in eight matches; Dreyer has four and five, respectively, in 11 matches.
In the 18th minute, Dallas midfielder Ramiro was called for a controversial foul on San Diego FC forward Alex Mighten in the box. Though Ramiro appeared to make negligible contact with Mighten, the call was upheld after a video review, and Lozano converted the penalty kick in the 20th minute.
There was no debate surrounding San Diego’s next tally, as Dreyer found a streaking Lozano with a tremendous downfield pass in the 27th minute. Maarten Paes came out of his net to try to reduce the angle, but Lozano sidestepped the goalkeeper and deposited the shot into the Toros’ net.
Dreyer extended San Diego’s lead in the 56th minute, with Lozano earning an assist for setting it up with a pass in the box.
Both forwards received assists on Valakari’s goal off the crossbar in the 73rd minute. Officials ruled that Valakari’s ball fully crossed the line after hitting the bar and deflecting straight down.
Iloski came off the bench in the 81st minute and added to the scoring party six minutes later with his first career MLS goal.
–Field Level Media
