Ryan Hollingshead scored in the 14th minute of second-half stoppage time and Los Angeles FC rallied from a late two-goal deficit to notch a 2-2 tie with host San Diego FC on Saturday night.
Denis Bouanga scored for Los Angeles FC (6-2-3, 21 points) in the 82nd minute on his team’s first shot on goal of the match.
Marcus Ingvartsen recorded the brace for San Diego FC (3-5-3, 12 points), who halted a five-match losing streak but saw their MLS winless streak reach eight (0-5-3).
San Diego’s CJ dos Santos made three saves in his first outing since sustaining a serious facial injury in a postseason match against the Portland Timbers on Nov. 1.
However, dos Santos was shaken up with a head injury and bloody nose in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time when he made a close-range diving save of Bouanga’s left-footed shot. After being treated on the field for several minutes, he exited in favor of Duran Ferree.
With stoppage time near an end, LAFC knotted the score on a corner kick. Mathieu Choiniere got his head on the ball and it went right to Hollingshead, who sent a left-footed shot past Ferree.
Hugo Lloris didn’t make any saves for LAFC, who are 1-2-2 in its last five MLS matches.
The late flourish allowed LAFC to outshoot San Diego 10-7 and hold a 5-2 edge in shots on targets.
The tie gave LAFC their first point in three matchups in the series. San Diego won both meetings last season during its expansion campaign.
San Diego took a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute on a corner kick.
Anders Dreyer kicked the ball into the box and a leaping Ingvartsen put his head on the ball and it glanced off LAFC defender Eddie Segura on its way into the net.
San Diego added on in the 71st minute when Dreyer fed the ball to Ingvartsen, who sent a right-footed shot into the lower left corner.
Things were looking bleak for LAFC until Bouanga received a pass from Son Heung-Min. Despite a tough angle near the goal line, Bouanga drilled a left-footed shot past dos Santos to make it a one-goal game.
Tyler Boyd had a chance to tie in the 87th minute but his left-footed blast was stopped by dos Santos.
In the 90th minute, dos Santos made a save on Bouanga’s right-footed shot.
–Field Level Media
