San Diego FC drops their first match at home, losing 3-1 to Real Salt Lake

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego FC's unbeaten home record and streak comes to an end, falling 3-1 to Real Salt Lake on Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium for the club's first-ever home loss, as their recent losing streak grows to three matches. 

After a disappointing road trip for Micky Varas’ squad, finishing in back-to-back road losses, San Diego FC returned home for their Saturday afternoon match against Real Salt Lake.

San Diego looked to extend their home unbeaten streak at Snapdragon Stadium to five matches, as their home record before their matchup with Real Salt Lake read two victories and two draws.

As for their overall record, San Diego sat at 14 points in the MLS Western Conference standings coming off four wins, three losses and two draws.

San Diego FC fell 3-0 last Saturday in their visit against Charlotte FC in Bank of America Stadium. 

Real Salt Lake also tasted defeat last Saturday, defeated 1-0 at home, America First Field, against Toronto FC. 

Salt Lake came into the match on nine points from three victories, no draws and six losses on the season.

A second meetup for the two clubs, as Saturday marked the clubs’ first reverse fixture of the season, with the first match back on March 8 in Sandy, Utah, ending in a 3-1 win for San Diego FC.

Midfielder Diego Luna put Real Salt Lake on top in the first minute of added time of the first half, taking advantage of a defensive half turnover by San Diego defender Willy Kumado.

Luna gained possession in a left-wing position as he drove at a San Diego defender and cut onto his inside right foot just inside the box. Luna curled his shot into the right side of the goal past diving San Diego goalkeeper CJ dos Santos.

First half action wasn’t done yet, as a 45+3 minute San Diego corner kick saw midfielder Aníbal Godoy held and taken down by Real Salt Lake defender Alexandros Katranis in the back post of the box. Referee Ricardo Fierro pointed to the spot, awarding the penalty.

With the chance to level the score right before the halftime break, San Diego’s Mexican designated player Chucky Lozano stepped up and finished his shot into the low right side of the goal in the sixth minute of added time to the first half.

Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Rafael Cabral guessed the correct side of Lozano's attempt, but the shot was too strong to get a hand on. 

Lozano claimed his second goal of the MLS season and a successful penalty attempt, with both of his goals happening in front of the home fans at Snapdragon Stadium. 

After an almost eventless first 45 minutes, both clubs found the net right before the halftime break within the added time. 

Although tied 1-1 at the halftime break, San Diego FC led in most statistical categories with a 59%-41% lead in the possession battle, totaling more shots 7-4, and more shots on target 3-1, as Real Salt Lake led in shots saved with goalkeeper Rafael Cabral making three saves in the first half. 

Referee Ricardo Fierro awarded a second penalty of the match, this time in favor of Real Salt Lake, as an outside-the-box attempt by Real Salt Lake midfielder Braian Ojeda was blocked by San Diego midfielder Jeppe Tverskov’s hands as he was shielding his face from the rising attempt.  

Real Salt Lake’s Diego Luna doubled up his match goal tally in the 54th minute, rolling the penalty attempt into the bottom left corner of the net, sending San Diego goalkeeper CJ dos Santos the opposite way. 

Defender Sam Junqua doubled Real Salt Lake’s lead with a long-distance outside-the-box shot in the 66-minute.

After a Real Salt Lake cross was cleared from the box, Junqua met the loose ball from a left-wing position and fired a left-footed strike into the far-bottom-post side-netting for the 3-1 advantage. 

Real Salt Lake defender Bode Hidalgo picked up two yellow cards in the last three minutes of added time, with his first coming off a foul in the 90+3 minute and the second in the 90+6 minute for disciplinary reasons. 

The full-time whistle blew at that 3-1 scoreline as Real Salt Lake took the road victory at Snapdragon Stadium, handing San Diego their third straight loss.

“It’s never nice to lose three games in a row, but that's something we have to deal with at the moment,” San Diego FC midfielder Anders Dreyer said on the losing streak.

With San Diego FC’s first home loss of the season, their unbeaten home streak comes to an end at four matches as their 3-1 loss to Real Salt Lake leaves San Diego’s home record at two wins, two draws and a loss.  

At the post-match press conference, San Diego FC head coach Mikey Varas shared his thoughts on his squad's recent struggles.

“We're a good team that's losing games right now,” Varas said. “It’s first team level, when you don't play a complete game, you're going to lose games.”

“These things are tough, we’re in a bad moment, also in terms of just like luck and momentum,” Varas said. “So what we need to do is we need to show up to training every day like we have, but actually get better in training. Because the way that we're training in preseason was good for preseason, but it's not good for now.”

“I know that this is a good team and this team is going to start winning games,” Varas said. “But we have to find a way, a little bit, to change that luck and we need to put a complete game.”

San Diego finishes Saturday night remaining on 14 points gained in the MLS Western Conference standings, with their record now reading four wins, four losses and two draws. 

The struggling San Diego side has yet to earn a point since their 3-0 home victory against the Seattle Sounders back on April 5.

San Diego FC looks to get back to their winning ways as they remain at home for their next match, facing off against FC Dallas next Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium on May 3 for a 6:15 p.m. kickoff.