San Diego FC go down to 10-men in 3-0 road defeat against Charlotte FC

CHARLOTTE -- San Diego FC dropped back-to-back road match losses as a struggling Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium ended in a Charlotte FC runaway 3-0 victory. 

San Diego FC’s second and final match of their road trip saw them take on the red-hot Charlotte FC, who looked to remain unbeaten and perfect at home.

Last Saturday, San Diego’s late comeback attempt fell short in Colorado as the Rapids took the 3-2 home victory at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Charlotte FC traveled up to Canada and took the three points last matchday, defeating CF Montréal at Saputo Stadium 1-0. A Charlotte victory over San Diego FC would push them into first place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings at the end of the night. 

Charlotte’s immediate offensive pressure to start the match paid off in the 11-minute with a dart counterattack that ended with forward Liel Abada putting Charlotte FC on top.

Midfielder Pep Biel received the ball outside of the penalty box as he dribbled through multiple San Diego tackles and slipped a ball in behind for forward Liel Abada, who tapped in the one-on-one opportunity into the near-post past sliding San Diego FC goalkeeper CJ dos Santos for the early 1-0 lead. 

San Diego FC's high-line play style took another hit as a ball was played over the top to Charlotte forward Patrick Agyemang as he dribbled into a near penalty box area, with San Diego FC defender Andres Reyes forced to make a play to stop the goal-scoring one-on-one opportunity. 

The challenge resulted in a whistle for an outside-the-box free kick as Reyes received a straight red in the 39th minute for the last-man foul. 

After a lengthy VAR check, referee Filip Dujic deemed the take-down to have taken place inside the box as he awarded the penalty for Charlotte, downgrading Reyes’ straight red card to a second yellow card of the match.

Andres Reyes' debut and first start for San Diego FC ended in a first-half sending off, with his second yellow card expulsion resulting in a one-match ban. 

After earning the penalty, Charlotte’s Patrick Agyemang stepped up and powered a shot into the right side of the net, rising over San Diego’s CJ dos Santos, who guessed and dove the right way but couldn’t keep it out as Charlotte took the 2-0 lead before halftime.  

San Diego FC had a large hill to climb for the remaining 45 minutes as they faced a two-goal deficit on the road, playing with a man down. 

Charlotte’s offensive pressure continued in the second half with Abada having another opportunity to find the net in the 54-minute, as he dribbled around San Diego’s goalkeeper with an empty net in front of him.

San Diego FC defender and former Charlotte FC first overall pick in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, Hamady Diop, came to the rescue as he cleared Abada's shot away with a goal-saving header. 

Charlotte FC defender Andrew Privett wouldn’t have his chance denied as a set piece from outside the box found Privett rising near the near goal area, heading the ball into the roof of the net for the 3-0 advantage in the 57-minute. 

A night to remember for Andrew Privett as he found the net for the first time in his MLS career. 

San Diego FC were able to limit the damage as the match concluded with that 3-0 scoreline for the road defeat against Charlotte FC. San Diego fell in back-to-back matches, as their road record now reads two wins and three losses for the five matches played.  

Head coach of San Diego FC, Mikey Varas, spoke at the post-match press conference on the 3-0 road defeat and the performance of his squad against Charlotte FC. 

“It's two losses in a row,” Varas said. “So it's the first time we're facing that. It's not all bad but it definitely wasn't a good performance.”

“Just looking at the big picture is important,” Varas said. “We're an expansion team who has started really well but we said from the beginning we're going to have ups and downs.”

“Something that I'm proud about is the team fought until the very end,” Varas said. “You can see they were knackered. They were done, exhausted, physically they gave everything. We just didn't have enough tonight.”

 A lackluster performance on both sides of the ball for San Diego FC as the ball-dominant side only saw a .8% advantage, with their average possession numbers before the match being 58.9% per game against their competition. 

San Diego only managed to hit the target twice throughout the 90 minutes, with the backline and goalkeeper having to endure a total of 16 shots, with 11 shots on frame, conceding three goals in the match. 

As for the overall record and standings, San Diego remains at 14 points gained through nine matches played in the MLS Western Conference standings with four wins, three losses and two draws. 

“It’s a big goal for us still to keep the record at home and I feel even more it's an opportunity for us to show because the last two games is not the version we want to show to people, especially not our fans,” San Diego FC midfielder and captain Jeppe Tverskov said. “Which means we will not show that at home, I can guarantee that.”

Next Saturday, San Diego FC returns home to Snapdragon Stadium to face off against Real Salt Lake on April 26 at 4:30 p.m. Having recorded two wins and two draws, San Diego looks to continue their four-match unbeaten record at home. 

This marks San Diego FC’s first reserve fixture, as these two clubs faced off earlier in the season in Utah on March 8, ending in a 3-1 added-time game-sealing goal for San Diego’s Anders Dreyer.