Last season, San Diego FC surprised all of MLS by winning the Western Conference title as an expansion team.
It’s safe to say San Diego is now going through a sophomore slump.
San Diego (3-5-3, 12 points) is mired in an eight-match winless streak heading into Saturday’s visit to the Seattle Sounders (6-1-2, 20 points).
Marcus Ingvartsen tallied twice as San Diego snapped a string of five consecutive defeats with a 2-2 draw with Los Angeles FC last weekend, a game in which it blew a two-goal lead.
San Diego, which won its first three matches of the season by shutouts but has conceded 19 goals in its past eight outings, will be without goalkeeper CJ dos Santos. Making his season debut, dos Santos sustained a nose injury in a collision late in the second half against LAFC — with the visitors tying the score off backup goalie Duran Ferree.
“I will say that the first 80 minutes, we were really good. I think we were pretty much where we’ve been at when we’ve been at our best,” San Diego coach Mikey Varas said. “And we weren’t able to get the third goal, but we’re up 2-0 and I think we’re in control of the game and the boys showed a great step in the right direction to who we want to be. And then things get a little bit difficult for us.”
San Diego FC will also be without captain Jeppe Tverskov until after the FIFA World Cup because of a leg injury he sustained April 25 in a 2-1 loss to Portland.
The Sounders had a three-match winning streak snapped last weekend in a 1-1 draw at cellar-dwelling Sporting Kansas City. Paul Rothrock scored in the second minute for Seattle but it was unable to add on.
Seattle is riding a seven-match unbeaten streak (5-0-2) in large part because they’ve allowed a league-low five goals and Andrew Thomas has kept five clean sheets.
The Sounders have won 20 consecutive matches in all competitions at Lumen Field since a 2-0 loss to reigning UEFA Champions Cup winner Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup last June.
“Being from the opposite team coming to Lumen, it’s a place where it’s hard to play,” Sounders winger Jesus Ferreira said. “The fans are always behind you. It’s always a good crowd. … It’s like (having) an extra man.”
–Field Level Media
