SDFC handed heavy 5-0 defeat at home by Philadelphia Union

SAN DIEGO — San Diego FC’s Sunday night ends in a 5-0 unravelling loss against the Philadelphia Union on Hispanic Heritage Night at Snapdragon Stadium. 

SDFC were back at home for their 25th matchday of the 2026 MLS Regular Season, hosting interconference side Philadelphia Union to mark the two clubs' first-ever meeting.

Coming off a midweek 1-0 losing effort against in-state rival San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday night that snapped a five-match winning streak at Snapdragon Stadium, SDFC looked to bounce back in front of their fans to remain in contention for an MLS Cup playoff spot. 

They enter Sunday’s matchday sitting in the ninth and final Western Conference postseason place, right in front of the trailing tenth-place LA Galaxy, all level on points but holding the tiebreaker advantage due to total wins in the campaign. 

SDFC’s biggest change to their starting XI came at the goalkeeper position, with Duran Ferree in between the sticks against the Union as usual starter CJ dos Santos was suspended after picking up a second yellow against the Earthquakes last time out. 

After a cagey first 45 minutes and what looked to be headed for a scoreless tie into the halftime break, the match caught fire in the closing first-half minutes with a shown red card and goal. 

Directly following a foul on former SDFC, now Philadelphia Union forward Milan Iloski, midfielder Alejandro Alvarado seemingly fired the ball directly into the face of the going-down Iloski, which triggered referee Ismail Elfath to show the SDFC player a straight red card in the 45-minute.  

The ensuing VAR check on the incident showed the accidental but unnecessary kick of the ball, with referee Elfath downgrading Alvarado’s booking to a yellow card, as SDFC avoided going down to ten men in back-to-back games. 

Then it was the Union that broke the deadlock in the 45+5-minute, coming off a moment of magic from 16-year-old American sensation Cavan Sullivan, letting off a goal-area backheel flick across goal, off the far right post and into the net for the 1-0 lead.

SDFC closed out the first half dominating possession, but fell short in shots and goal creation, with the Union tripling the Chrome & Azuls' four total shots. 

The Sullivan show continued in the second half, doubling up his goal tally and the Union’s lead in the 62-minute after being played in behind into the penalty box as he snuck a low driven shot through the legs of SDFC’s Ferree at the left sided near post for the 2-0 score and his brace. 

Only five minutes later, Philadelphia added their third to the match with an attack involving Sullivan once again. 

Starting with an over-the-top ball into the right wing space from Sullivan, Iloski got his revenge against his former side as he assisted Bruno Damiani with a pass near the center of the penalty area as Damiani got the finishing touch in the 67-minute to make it 3-0.

The bad luck continued for SDFC with midfielder Anibal Godoy finding his own net in the 87-minute, heading the ball back and over Duran Ferree for the fourth Philadelphia goal.

The Union managed to add a fifth and final goal in the final minute of added stoppage time to the second half, with forward Malik Jakupovic getting on the end of a goal-area tap-in finish in the 90+4-minute that sealed the 5-0 scoreline at Snapdragon Stadium.

Following the home loss to Philadelphia, SDFC head coach Mikey Varas spoke on his team's recent lack of consistency and the changes coming within the group.

“Ultimately, this is an unacceptable situation, an unacceptable result. I take full responsibility at the end of the day. It's my job to get the group ready to play.” 

“And for whatever reason, this group has not found any sort of consistency. But what I can promise is we're gonna go back to the drawing board, and we're gonna make the environment even more competitive.”

“Because these guys gotta fight for their lives if they want to be here, and they gotta show a lot more than what they're showing.”

“It’s just not who we are. We can say that it's a blip on the radar, but we take these blips very seriously. So we need to self-correct, very quickly, because it's unacceptable.”

It’s been an unfortunate run of matches for San Diego FC, having fallen in their last three games, including Sunday’s 5-0 loss to the Union that marked the club's biggest margin of defeat. 

SDFC moves away from MLS play this Wednesday night, hosting cross-border rivals Club Tijuana on Sept. 16 at Snapdragon Stadium for the second-ever Baja Cup, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

The Chrome & Azul recently took down the Xolos back on August 9, with 18-year-old forward Bryan Zamblé’s 22-minute goal being enough to seal the 1-0 Leagues Cup victory at home.