San Diego FC strong in 3-1 away win over Real Salt Lake
San Diego FC left back Franco Negri celebrates his equalizing goal against Real Salt Lake in the club’s 3-1 victory. (Photo credit: San Diego FC)
San Diego FC persevered to win 3-1 on the road against Real Salt Lake. The victory puts the club at seven total points, extending their unbeaten streak to three and puts them second in the MLS Western Conference standings.
The club entered the match with some questions about their finishing ability as they were unable to score in their last match and were without their marquee forward, Hirving “Chucky” Lozano. Lozano was out with a lower body injury he sustained during the team’s home-opener against St. Louis City.
San Diego FC started off well in the first 15 minutes, as they dominated possession and created some opportunities in the final third much like their prior matches, until Real Salt Lake briefly took over.
In the 17th minute RSL midfielder Diego Luna sent a long ball down the right side of the pitch for an RSL forward, Domink Marczuk, who was pressing high. SDFC defender Franco Negri was left in an exposed position leaving the forward Domink Marczuk free to move toward the middle before sending a short pass into the box for Ariath Piol to shoot into the net easily to make it 1-0.
The goal was the first one conceded by the expansion club and marked a tough few minutes for the team who had some defensive miscues in their own half. Still, the team managed to settle in and revert to their high-possession style of play that has worked well.
“We talk a lot about impacting the flow of the game, and sometimes the flow of the game is going to go against you,” SDFC Head Coach Mikey Varas said. “You got to have composure in those moments, stick to our principles, stick to our style of play, keep positive, keep believing and just chip away and grind away at it.”
In the 43rd minute, SDFC left back Franco Negri got a great long pass that switched play to the left side in the opposition's half. Negri had time and space in front of him which he used to slowly move toward the middle before passing the ball to forward Tomás Ángel. Negri stayed in a central position and crept up into the penalty area. Ángel placed a perfect pass into the air for Negri who was wide open to head in to make it 1-1.
“Our sporting director had the quote of the night,” Varas said. “I don’t think anybody had Franco Negri scoring a header from eleven yards out on their bingo card tonight, but people step up and at the end of the day you have to celebrate that.”
It seemed the result would hold as both sides created offensive chances, but both teams goalkeepers made good saves to keep the match level. San Diego FC goalkeeper CJ Dos Santos saw the most action yet in an SDFC uniform as he saved five out of six shots on target in this match, more than he saw in the prior two matches combined.
“CJ Dos Santos was a monster tonight,” said Varas. “Of course we can always be nit-picky about every single player on the field about little things and he knows that he can improve, but at the end of the day he put the cape on tonight. He was the fireman for us because he takes two or three big, big, big chances away from them.”
That was until the first minute of added time when SDFC forward Anders Dreyer provided late-game heroics once again. The goal started with Willy Kumado who came on as a substitute in the right back position and made a strong move by passing the ball forward to himself and running around a defender to make a cross.
SDFC striker Marcus Ingvartsen made a run on the front post where the ball deflected off a defender perfectly in front of Dreyer who was waiting for the second ball. Dreyer put forth a strong kick to make it 2-1.
Ingvartsen added on with a goal of his own after a couple of good touches by midfielder Onni Valakari in the sixth minute of stoppage time to make the final score 3-1.
San Diego FC will play their next match at home on March 15, against Columbus Crew who have exactly the same record with two wins and one draw.
