San Diego FC just went through arguably the toughest week of its season so far. They had to go to Vancouver in to battle for 1st place on Wednesday, fly to Texas on Thursday, train and install a gameplan for a new opponent on Friday, and play FC Dallas on Saturday.
They seem to thrive under pressure. SDFC scored twice in the 2nd half for a 3-2 comeback win in the Lone Star State, giving them a 4th straight victory and eight wins in their last 10 outings to maintain their spot in first place in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference.
SDFC struck first. In the 26th minute Onni Valakari was taken down from behind in the goalie box, giving San Diego a penalty kick. Anders Dreyer was the logical choice to take it. The All-Star calmly sent home his 9th goal of the season to put SDFC on top 1-0. Add in Dreyer’s 13 assists and he’s contributed to more goals than any other player in Major League Soccer.
They gave up the lead on a bad decision by one of their own players. Midfielder Manu Duah tried to make a no-look pass back to his defense but instead sent the ball right to the feet of Dallas forward Petar Musa, who turned and fired a shot past goalie CJ dos Santos to knot it 1-1 at halftime.
Dallas emerged from the break determined to take the initiative, putting immediate pressure on San Diego. They broke through in the 56th minute when Sebastian Lletget scored from the middle of the box to give the home side a 2-1 lead. In the 71st minute the game changed.
That’s when Chucky Lozano entered the match. The All-Star has been nursing a hamstring issue that flared up on May 31. It took him all of six minutes to level the match.
Lozano made a run to the middle and Milan Iloski put a pass right on his left foot for the equalizer. So, their two designated players scored the first two goals. One of their up-and-comers would deal the decisive blow. In the 6th minute of stoppage time Tomas Angel settled into the middle of the box and Dreyer found him. Angel turned and fired before the defense could arrive, sending a shot to the upper left corner for the game-winner.
SDFC gets to come home and take a little more time to prepare for their next match on Saturday night when Houston comes to Snapdragon Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.