Alejandro Alvarado scored his first MLS goal in the 50th minute and San Diego FC made it hold up for a 1-0 victory over visiting FC Dallas on Saturday night.
CJ dos Santos was called on to make just one save while recording his first shutout of the season for San Diego FC (5-7-5, 20 points).
Jonathan Sirois made four saves for Dallas (7-5-5, 26 points) after replacing injured starter Daniel, who had three stops.
San Diego FC held possession nearly 70% of the match to improve to 3-0-1 against FC Dallas in their two-season history.
Alvarado had the ball from beyond the box early in the second half and unleashed a long right-footed shot into the right corner of the net to break a scoreless tie.
Two minutes later, FC Dallas put its only shot on target but Petar Musa’s close-range header was saved by dos Santos.
Omni Valakari had a solid chance for San Diego in the 59th minute, but his left-footed shot caromed off the right goalpost.
Anderson Julio of Dallas broke in toward the net in hopes of receiving the ball in the 72th minute and dos Santos came out to break up the play. That left Santiago Moreno with an open net to shoot at, but he chipped his right-footed attempt over the net.
San Diego almost gifted FC Dallas the tying goal in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.
Manu Duah made an errant pass back into the midfield and gave Dallas’ Logan Farrington a chance to dash in toward dos Santos. But Duah sprinted back toward the San Diego net and he was able to get his foot in and block Farrington’s right-footed shot to thwart the opportunity.
One minute later, the match was called.
San Diego outshot Dallas 19-7 and held an 8-1 edge in shots on target.
Dallas lost Daniel after he made a point-black save in the 16th minute on Valakari.
Daniel’s right leg bent awkwardly as he stretched to stymie Valakari and he remained down in pain. Trainers eventually helped him walk off the field and Sirois entered as the new goalie in the 19th minute.
San Diego outshot Dallas 13-2 in the first half but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Marcus Ingvartsen had a big opportunity in the 32nd minute, but his close-range right-footed shot was stopped by Sirois.
–Field Level Media
