Second-half struggles doom SDFC, which falls 3-1 to Minnesota

The last time San Diego FC and Minnesota United played each other back in mid-June SDFC came from behind to win - on the road But there would be no miracle on Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium as Minnesota blasted the home club by the total of - As a end Minnesota - nine draws points maintains second place in the MLS Western Conference standings but gains ground on conference-leading San Diego - five draws points A loss by Minnesota on Saturday would have all but handed the top seed to San Diego giving the club an eight-point lead But SDFC remains in the driver s seat when it comes to winning the conference However the loss prevents for now San Diego from tying or besting Los Angeles FC s expansion record of points set in Yet with four matches still left in the regular season it would take a massive slump for San Diego to not at least tie the record by earning at least a draw against one of its final minimal opponents Saturday s match started out as a defensive battle and was tied - at the half Much of the reason why was the strong play of the two goalkeepers San Diego s CJ dos Santos and Minnesota s Dayne St Clair two of the better keepers in the league were both excellent during the initial minutes SDFC had shot opportunities in the first half including six shots-on-goal But St Clair swatted or snatched each with a combination of agility and acrobatics Minnesota didn t spend much time near San Diego s goal and only took one shot during the first half but that shot didn t come close to finding the back of the net As usual San Diego won the possession and passing battles during the first half It maintained the ball for of the opening minutes and made passes compared to for Minnesota United For the full match San Diego maintained possession and took shots compared to six for Minnesota But although both goalkeepers performed well in the first half dos Santos struggled in the second The match s first goal came during the th minute when Minnesota defender Anthony Markanich scored with a header to the top left corner of the net Then Markanich s teammate midfielder Carlos Harvey scored with a left-footed shot to the top left corner of the net three minutes later Minnesota wasn t done During the nd minute midfielder Nectarios Triantis hit a right-footed shot to the net s left central zone At that point plenty of in the declared crowd of started streaming out of the building knowing the outcome of the contest was likely sealed San Diego decisively got on the scoreboard during garbage time the th minute when Jeppe Tverskov scored with a header to the net s lower right central zone to make the total - right before the whistle sounded We played well in the first half In the second half we kind of got away from the things that we were doing well We were rushing our attacks too much SDFC head coach Mikey Varas disclosed during the post-match press conference At the end of the day we want to make this place Snapdragon a fortress he continued We re going to take the things we did well and we re going to clean up chosen things Up next SDFC faces Liga MX s Club Tijuana in a friendly non-competitive match that takes place on Mexican Independence Day Tuesday at Snapdragon with a special start time of p m San Diego then plays Atlanta United FC on the road Sept before returning to Snapdragon for a Sept match against the San Jose Earthquakes SDFC s last home match of their inaugural regular season Notes Despite Saturday s loss San Diego has beaten every crew in the Western Conference at least once this season It has a chance to go - against California teams if it beats the Earthquakes in two weeks