San Diego FC lost 2-1 to Minnesota United FC Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium.
SDFC is currently in eighth place in the MLS Western Conference with 11 points, while Minnesota also has 11 points and sits just behind in ninth place.
At the start of the match, SDFC controlled possession early, keeping the ball primarily on Minnesota’s side of the field. But slowly, SDFC started to push the ball on the offensive side of the pitch.
At the seven-minute mark, forward Lewis Morgan kicked the ball to the left side, finding defender Luca Bombino, who took a left-footed shot from the lower left of the box to open the scoring and give SDFC a 1-0 lead.
The goal marked Bombino’s first of the season and marked the 100th goal in SDFC history.
Head coach Mikey Varas pointed to the takeaways against Minnesota despite the loss.
“I think we start pretty bright and I think they’re starting to man mark us, and we find some pretty good solutions,” Varas said. “I think we’re just a hair away from making some even bigger chances, and we actually do create a couple more really big chances.”
Five minutes later, defender Christopher McVey received a yellow card for a foul on a Minnesota player.
By the 15-minute mark, Minnesota had the opportunity to shine when defender Kyle Duncan scored on a header from the right side of the box, assisted by forward Tomás Chancalay and midfielder Owen Gene.
Minnesota took over the game during the 40-minute mark when forward Kelvin Yeboah scored from close range with his right foot. The goal was set up by defender Anthony Markanish and Gene’s assist.
At halftime, SDFC held 61.8% possession, nine shots, one corner kick and one save. Minnesota had 37.7% possession and three saves.
Less than a minute into the second half, McVey received his second yellow card and was shown the red card, reducing SDFC to 10 players for the remainder of the match.
Varas addressed the red card situation in his opening statement, noting the team has faced similar situations this season.
“I can’t explain exactly what’s happening, other than I think we’re receiving some harsh calls, and we’re just in one of those situations where nothing’s going our way, in that sense,” Varas said. “The most important thing is, that we’re all together and getting ourselves out of it and we know that we will.”
Morgan, who is new to the roster this season and started the match, talked about the importance of unity when playing a man down.
“Red cards are always going to influence games,” Morgan said. “How we are putting ourselves in those positions, I think it’s something that we can improve on. And I think it’s just about having each other’s backs.”
Defender Carlos Harvey fouled winger Anders Dreyer, giving SDFC a free kick in the 80-minute mark to potentially tie the game. Dreyer hit a left-footed shot from outside the box, but Minnesota goalkeeper Drake Callender made the save at the bottom left corner.
Despite seven minutes of stoppage time, SDFC was unable to convert a goal, losing to Minnesota 2-1.
Minnesota handed SDFC its first home loss in the 2026 MLS regular season. SDFC will travel to Utah to play against Real Salt Lake on Saturday, April 18, at 6:30 p.m. San Diego will return to Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, April 25, at 6:30 p.m. to face the Portland Timbers.
