In a battle of the first two teams in the Western Conference, San Diego FC fell to Minnesota United FC by a score of 3-1 in a bitter home loss.
“We created a lot of big chances, not a lot of half chances,” head coach Mikey Vargas said following the match postgame with the media. “I don’t think we gave anything away… but then we got away a bit from the things we were doing well, which opened the game up a bit more.”
After a brief international break, SDFC returned to MLS play in front of 27,158 fans on Hispanic Heritage Night, which featured a pre-game Lucha Libre match and other festivities.
SDFC came into the match at the top of the Western Conference table, posting a 17-7-5 record for 56 points, while Minnesota United FC is in second place with a 14-6-9 record and 51 points. Going into the game, both teams were the only teams in the West to have clinched a playoff spot.
It was the second and final meeting between the two clubs as former loan player Milan Illoski and forward Andres Dreyer both scored twice in a 4-2 away win on June 14.
San Diego is coming off a 3-1 away victory against LAFC on Aug. 31 and has gone 4-0-1 in their last five games. Meanwhile, Minnesota United drew 1-1 with the Portland Timbers and hoped to bounce back after a 1-3-1 in their last five games.
SDFC controlled possession throughout the first 10 minutes but could not get a shot on net, with chances going wide or blocked by the Minnesota defenders.
11 minutes into the game, Dreyer, the August Player of the Month, took the first shot as he was all alone on Minnesota United FC goalkeeper Dayne St Clair, but the keeper made the save.
Dreyer found a chance to redeem himself in the 19th minute in the same spot, but it was saved yet again. Forward Amahl Pellegrino was in the perfect spot to slam a header home, but St Clair proved to be Minnesota’s best player as he made his fourth save of the game.
San Diego FC slightly took the pedal off the gas in the remainder of the first half as they missed the constant pressure present earlier in the half.
In the last seconds of added time, SDFC had their best chances of the game on back-to-back shots, but they could not find the back of the net.
SDFC went into the break with a 60-40% possession advantage and outshot MNUFC 12-1, with six being on target. Minnesota led in one category, but it was not one they wanted to have, as they were given three yellow cards.
“I’m pretty sure that especially the first half is going to be quite positive to look back on,” captain midfielder Jeppe Tverskov said.
The best chance of the half came in the 61st minute when Dreyer’s cross found Pelegrino in the middle of the 16-yard box, but his shot went right at St Clair.
Both teams made substitutions in the 63rd minute, with SDFC forward Corey Baird entering in place of Pellegrino and MNUFC midfielder Nectarios Triantis substituting fellow midfielder Owen Gene.
Even as SDFC held all the advantages in offensive categories, it would be Minnesota defender Anthony Markanich scoring the first goal of the game in the 74th minute via header on a corner kick and silencing the Snapdragon faithful.
Harvey made up for his yellow card earlier and scored the second goal of the game for Minnesota in the 77th minute on a brilliant cutback left-footed shot that was just out of the reach of SDFC’s goalkeeper, CJ Dos Santos.
Down two in the 81st minute, Vargas made three substitutions to get some offensive spark with forward Alex Mighten replacing midfielder Manu Duah, defender Willy Kumado for defender Paddy McNair, and midfielder Pedro Soma entering the game for midfielder Luca de la Torre.
With Dos Santos out of his net to help the offense, Trianots lobbed the ball from his own half over the keeper’s head and into the net to give MNUFC a 3-0 lead, leading the SDFC fans to the exits.
In the last play of the game in the 90+5th minute, SDFC finally got past St Clair as Tverskov scored a header to cut the deficit to 3-1 and prevent a clean sheet.
SDFC had a clear advantage in chances and shots but could not put the ball in the net by a score of 3-1.
“Just to keep focusing on the details, to take the positives and to try to extend that first half performance to 90 minutes,” Torre said.
Even after the loss, San Diego remained in first place of the Western Conference, but Minnesota cut a five-point deficit into a two-point deficit. SDFC falls to 17-8-5 and stays at 56 points, while MNUFC improves to 15-6-9 and 54 points.
