San Diego FC saw itself behind early against the Columbus Crew at Snapdragon Stadium after a 17th-minute goal from forward Maximilian Arfsten who managed to split the defenders and slot the ball past goalkeeper CJ dos Santos. The visitors looked to have extended the lead later in the first half but a foul inside the box nullified the goal, which kept the score 1-0 at halftime.

San Diego FC put the pressure on to start the second half, which paid off when Columbus saw Malte Amundsen be issued a red card after fouling on a counterattack as the last defender.

This ejection gave the home team a one-man advantage for the rest of the match and SDFC capitalized in the 69th minute when midfielder Luca de la Torre executed a perfect corner kick that found the head of teammate Onni Valakari who placed the ball past goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.

San Diego, led by head coach Mikey Varas, could have come out with the three points if it wasn’t for two goals that were nullified for being offside along with some amazing interventions by the Crew’s Schulte in the final minutes.

The frustration from some of the fans showed when the infamous homophobic chant was heard on a goal-kick in the final seconds, which prompted a warning to be issued by the public address announcer and was showcased on screen.

San Diego FC remains in second place in the Western Conference standings becoming only the second expansion team in MLS history to go undefeated over its first four games. The team will play at Austin FC on Sunday, March 23.

SDFC photos courtesy of David Frerker