San Diego FC Defeats Deportivo Toluca F.C. 3-2 in Leg One of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16
MLS San Diego FC

San Diego FC Defeats Deportivo Toluca F.C. 3-2 in Leg One of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16

Published on March 12, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
San Diego FC News Release


SAN DIEGO - Nine-men San Diego FC (SDFC) defeated Deportivo Toluca F.C. 3-2 in Leg One of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 match at Snapdragon Stadium.

David Vazquez had a brace and Anders Dreyer scored his first goal of the international competition after Toluca's Jesus Gallardo had given the defending LIGA MX champions an early lead. Gallardo converted a penalty kick in the 16th minute. Toluca was awarded a penalty kick after Marcus Ingvartsen was whistled for a dangerous kick in the penalty area and was shown a red card. SDFC went on to score three goals while playing with 10 men in its second-ever home Concacaf Champions Cup match.

SDFC tied the match 1-1 with Vazquez' goal in the 32nd minute. Vazquez scored his second goal of the night just seconds into the second half for a 2-1 lead. SDFC extended the lead when Dreyer sent a bending shot from just outside the 18-yard box for the 3-1 lead. Toluca scored the final goal of the night with a Helio Nune penalty kick in the 90th minute. SDFC played the final 13 minutes of the match with nine men after defender Manu Duah was ejected late in the match.

SDFC returns to MLS Regular Season action when it visits FC Dallas on Saturday, March 14 at 5:30 p.m. PT at Toyota Stadium. SDFC will then return to Concacaf Champions Cup play when it travels to Mexico to face Toluca in Leg Two of the Round of 16 on Wednesday, March 18 at 8 p.m. PT at Estadio Nemesio Díez.

Goal Scoring Plays:

TOL - 0-1 - Jesus Gallardo (Penalty Kick), 16th minute: Gallardo converted from the penalty spot with a left-footed shot to the lower right corner, beating a diving Duran Ferree.

SD - 1-1 - David Vazquez (Amahl Pellegrino), 32nd minute: Vazquez equalized with a low left-footed shot from near the center of the penalty area, beating Toluca goalkeeper Hugo Gonzalez. The play began with a steal by Luca Bombino, who played the ball up field to Pellegrino before Pellegrino delivered the cross to Vazquez.

SD - 2-1 - David Vazquez (Luca Bombino), 46th minute: Vazquez scored his second goal of the night, giving SDFC the lead with a left-footed finish off a cross from Bombino into the penalty area.

SD - 3-1 - Anders Dreyer (Luca Bombino), 53rd minute: Dreyer extended the SDFC lead with a left-footed shot from just outside the 18-yard box. He received a pass from Bombino before bending the shot into the net.

TOL - 3-2 - Helio Nunes (Penalty Kick), 90': Nunes converted a penalty kick, rolling his shot into the lower-left corner past Duran Ferree.

Postgame Notes:

- SDFC earned its second Concacaf Champions Cup victory tonight with a 3-2 win against Deportivo Toluca F.C.

- SDFC has outscored LIGA MX teams in the Concacaf Champions Cup 7-4.

- SDFC is now 5-1 in 2026 across all competitions (MLS Regular Season 3-0, Concacaf Champions Cup 2-1).

- SDFC has outscored opponents 15-4 across all competitions in 2026.

- SDFC has now played in seven matches against Liga MX clubs across official competitions and exhibition matches.

- SDFC has faced seven teams in that span (Toluca FC and Pumas UNAM in Concacaf Champions Cup, CF Pachuca, Tigres UANL and Mazatlán F.C. in the 2025 Leagues Cup; and Club Tijuana and Club America in an exhibition matches last season).

- SDFC is now 3-3 against Liga MX clubs in official competition (beat Mazatlán F.C. in Leagues Cup action, Pumas UNAM in Concacaf Champions Cup) and 4-3 overall across all competitions (beat Club Tijuana and Club América in friendlies).

- SDFC has now scored 94 goals across all competition (MLS, Leagues Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup).

- Forward Anders Dreyer scored his first goal in the Concacaf Champions Cup, recording his second goal contribution in the Concacaf Champions Cup. He assisted on a Manu Duah goal against UNAM Pumas on Feb. 3.

- Dreyer has now scored 26 goals with SDFC across all competitions.

- Midfielder David Vazquez scored his second and third goal with SDFC in official competition and his second and third in the Concacaf Champions Cup. Vazquez scored in SDFC's tournament debut, a 4-1 win against UNAM Pumas on Feb. 3. Vazquez scored his first goal with SDFC in a friendly against Club Tijuana last September. He now has four goal contributions in international competition. He assisted Onni Valakari's goal in a 2-0 win against Mazatlán F.C. in Leagues Cup play on Aug. 5, 2025.

- Defender Luca Bombino assisted two of SDFC's three goals tonight,

- Bombino now has three goal contributions in the Concacaf Champions Cup. He scored his first goal in the competition against UNAM Pumas on Feb. 3. He now has 10 goal contributions (3 goals, 7 assists) with SDFC across all competitions (MLS, MLS Postseason, Leagues Cup and CCC).

- Forward Amahl Pellegrino registered his first goal contribution in CCC with an assist in Vazquez' first goal tonight.

- Goalkeeper Duran Ferree made his international debut, making his first start in the Concacaf Champions Cup.

- Ferree allowed the first two goals of his professional career when Toluca's Jesus Gallardo and Helio Nunes converted penalty kicks tonight.

- Ferre also registered his first three saves in international competition tonight.

- Midfielder Aníbal Godoy missed tonight's match against Toluca due to yellow card accumulation.

- Midfielder Marcus Ingvartsen will miss the next CCC match after being shown a red card tonight against Toluca.

- Defender Manu Duah will miss the next CCC match after being shown a red card tonight against Toluca.

- Defender Oscar Verhoeven made his CCC debut tonight as part of SDFC's First XI.

- Midfielder Bryce Duke made his CCC debut tonight when he came on as a substitute for Anders Dreyer (90+6).

- Newcomer Osvald Søe made his SDFC debut and CCC debut tonight when he came on as a substitute for Amahl Pellegrino in the 90th minute.

- Forward Lewis Morgan made his CCC debut and second appearance for SDFC when he came on as a substitute for Vazquez in the 61st minute.

- Midfielder Pedro Soma made his third-straight appearance in the CCC, coming on as a substitute for Onni Valakari in the 90thminute. Soma started in SDFC's two CCC Round One matches against UNAM Pumas.

- SDFC secured its first Champions Cup participation after a first-place finish in the MLS Western Conference during the 2025 MLS regular season, its inaugural season.

- SDFC is the 52nd club from the United States to participate in the Concacaf Champions Cup and the 26th from MLS.

Match Information

Concacaf Champions Cup - Round of 16 - Leg One

San Diego FC vs. Deportivo Toluca F.C.

Wednesday - Snapdragon Stadium (San Diego, Calif.)

Scoring Summary:

TOL (0-1) - Jesus Gallardo (Penalty Kick) 16'

SD (1-1) - David Vazquez (Assisted by Amahl Pellegrino), 32'

SD (2-1) - David Vazquez (Assisted by Luca Bombino), 46'

SD (3-1) - Anders Dreyer (Assisted by Luca Bombino), 53'

TOL (3-2) - Helio Nunes (Penalty Kick), 90'

Misconduct Summary:

SD - Marcus Ingvartsen (ejection, 12')

TOL - Everardo Lopez (caution, 45')

TOL - Jorge Diaz (caution, 45+4)

SD - Luca Bombino (caution, 59')

SD - Manu Duah (caution, 66')

TOL - Andres Pereira (caution, 69)'

SD - Manu Duah (ejection, 85')

Lineups:

SAN DIEGO FC: GK Duran Ferree; D Luca Bombino, D Oscar Verhoeven (Ian Pilcher, 61'), D Manu Duah, D Christopher McVey; M David Vazquez (Lewis Morgan, 61'), M Onni Valakari (Pedro Soma, 90'), M Jeppe Tverskov -C-; F Amahl Pellegrino (Osvald Søe, 90'), F Marcus Ingvartsen, F Anders Dreyer (Bryce Duke, 90+6)

Substitutes Not Used: GK CJ Dos Santos, GK Pablo Sisniega, F Bryan Zamblé, F Emmanuel Boateng, F Anisse Saidi, F Alex Mighten

TOTAL SHOTS: 8; SHOTS ON GOAL: 5; FOULS: 15; OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 0; SAVES; 3

TOLUCA FC: GK Hugo Gonzalez; D Diego Barbosa (Sebastian Cordova, 90+2), D Bruno Mendez, D Andres Pereira, D Everado Lopez (Helio Nunes, 46'); M Jesus Angulo (Alexis Vega, 73'), M Jesus Gallardo, M Jorge Diaz (Pavel Perez, 46'); F Marcel Ruiz -C-(Nicolas Castro, 41'), F Paulinho Dias, F Franco Romero

Substitutes Not Used: GK Luis Garcia, D Antonio Briseño, D Luan, F Oswaldo Virgen, M Fernando Arce, F Franco Rossi, D Sebastian Aceves

TOTAL SHOTS: 20; SHOTS ON GOAL: 5; FOULS: 10; OFFSIDES 4; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 1

Referee: Walter Lopez

Assistant Referees: Keytzel Corrales, Raymundo Feliz

Fourth Official: Oliver Vergara

VAR: Tatiana Guzman

AVAR: Yasith Monge

Weather: 61-degrees, Clear

Attendance: 20,652

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

SDFC HEAD COACH MIKEY VARAS

On how the tactics changed after the early red card and the intangibles that defined the match:

"Yeah. So, in the buildup, we knew we just needed to find our feet a little bit and we needed to keep playing against the press and stay brave there. We pushed Chris [McVey] a little bit to kind of right fullback-ish position, so that Duran [Ferree] could take a center back position, so we can still have a build up, against one player less. And then we really told them, just make sure you're still ready to play, because we can find the spaces and I think they did a good job. And then in terms of ball recovery, it was about finding this 4-4-1, little bit block and lower, and being patient to the low back, to the wide areas and then looking to jump with their full backs and get into double pressure, which is where we get the first score from, David [Vazquez] going into that pressure. And then when they play back and back and back, we said, this is where we got to take risk. We got to go press and we've got to go with as many people as possible. The back line was going to have to deal with sometimes two or three extra players. The intangibles are, I think anybody who is in stadium will remember this night, because the team not only found a way to get the result, but they found a way to continue imposing themselves, even though a lot of things went against us tonight."

On how the altitude might affect the second leg:

"Yeah, I mean, the altitude is a real thing, right? So, the ball moves differently, and obviously it can affect your running, but it's just a mental challenge that we need to be ready for. The nice thing is now we have the experience of going to Mexico City, so we know what it feels like. Anytime you do something in life for the second time and now we know what it feels like, we're a little bit more ready for that challenge. And of course, we play against a good team, and we're going to have to suffer at moments, but I think the team is also ready for those kinds of moments and I think also we can make them suffer as well, where we go there and play our best."

On the athleticism of defender Manu Duah in the backline:

"Yeah, Manu [Duah] and Chris [McVey], I think all the players were beasts tonight. Specifically, those two having to deal sometimes being two against three or two against four in situations. We already challenge them a lot in terms of being in man-on-man situations a lot, but today was a much bigger challenge against very, very good players and I think he did well."

On what was said in the locker room at halftime that had the team play such an effective second half:

"You know, we made those tactical adjustments that I just mentioned now, but the most important thing was asking them what they felt when I walked in, right when I walked in. And the feeling was, we can win this game. And the message was, listen, you're going to have to drain every ounce of yourself out on the field, because you're going to have to play. You're going to have to divide spaces even more and it cannot be an excuse that you don't make the run. These guys just showed so much character and resilience in terms of coming out with a real proactive attitude. You've seen a lot with a lot of teams really just, you know, they got the 1-1, so okay, let's just hang on for as long as we can. I think we pushed it to the limits for as long as we could. Again, if it wasn't for some things that really went against us, I think we had a really good chance of actually having a 3-1 win moving on, but that's life."

On the improvements of Defender Luca Bombino:

"Yeah, Bombino's next steps were final product and final third. He started, I think his first season well, but we told him, and I think I said it earlier in the season, Bombino, year two can't be the same Bombino that we saw last year. And he's taking tremendous steps. He's also showing the maturity to be able to play on the right side, play on the left side, basically do whatever we ask of him to help the team win. But he was really effective for us when we went down. Late runs, getting in behind and having quality in the service and I think he's one of many guys who just left everything on the field and made the Club really, really proud tonight."

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