Gabriel Pirani’s 86th-minute goal seals 3-3 draw for San Diego

Pirani changes the outcome late

Gabriel Pirani’s 86th-minute goal earned San Diego a 3-3 draw with Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer’s Regular Season - 29 at Snapdragon Stadium. The late equaliser changed a match Houston had led 3-2 since the 37th minute.

San Diego opened the scoring when Anders Dreyer converted a penalty in the 20th minute for 1-0. Two minutes later, Cédric Bakambu made it 2-0 with a normal goal assisted by Onni Valakari. Houston responded quickly: Guilherme Augusto scored in the 24th minute, assisted by Lawrence Ennali, to make it 2-1. Mateusz Bogusz levelled at 2-2 in the 33rd minute, with Guilherme providing the assist, before Guilherme scored again in the 37th minute for 2-3.

Pirani entered in the 58th minute and later produced the final goal, restoring parity at 3-3. Houston’s Guilherme was the standout performer, earning an 8.9 rating after two goals, one assist and two shots on target in 77 minutes. Both teams received three yellow cards; Guilherme was booked in the 44th minute, while San Diego’s late cautions went to Dreyer in the 77th minute and Aníbal Godoy in the 79th.

San Diego had the stronger statistical platform

The scoreline did not reflect San Diego’s territorial and chance advantages. San Diego had 62% possession, 17 total shots to Houston’s 10, six shots on goal to three, and 10 corners to three. Its expected-goals figure was 2.57 compared with Houston’s 0.93, while San Diego completed 602 passes to Houston’s 365.

Western Conference positions after the match

The standings list Houston Dynamo fifth in the Western Conference with 46 points from 29 games, while San Diego are 12th with 33 points from 29 games. Houston are 13 points ahead of San Diego, and both remain below conference leaders Vancouver Whitecaps, who have 52 points. San Diego’s listed pre-match form began with three wins, while Houston’s began Win, Loss, Win, Loss.