San Diego FC undone late in 4-3 losing thriller against the Houston Dynamo

SAN DIEGO -- Stars & Stripes Night at Snapdragon Stadium ended in heart-drenching fashion, with a San Diego FC tenth-minute of stoppage-time conceded goal being the finishing blow in their 4-3 loss against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night. 

San Diego FC returned to Snapdragon Stadium for their Saturday night matchup against the Houston Dynamo after returning from their three-match road trip. 

The club’s three-match road trip finished with San Diego taking all nine available points from three wins against Minnesota, Vancouver and Dallas. 

In their last matchday, San Diego FC left Frisco, Texas, with the 3-2 second-half comeback victory over FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium on June 28. 

San Diego FC finished their road trip sitting at the top of the MLS Western Conference standings, with 39 points accumulated off their twelve-win, five-loss and three-draw overall MLS record.  

As for the Houston Dynamo, they came into Saturday night's fixture right outside of the MLS playoff positions, looking to improve on their road form on the season, having only seen two victories away from home in nine matches.  

Last Saturday, the Dynamo snapped a three-match winless period with their 1-0 Shell Energy Stadium win over St. Louis City SC on June 28. 

After a shaky start from the home squad, having conceded multiple threatening runs and chances in the early minutes, San Diego regained their offensive confidence and found the net first for the opening goal of the match. 

It would come off the back of the Escondido native forward Milan Iloski in the 25-minute, as an outside the penalty area centered cross by defender Luca Bombino met midfielder Onni Valakari as he recentered the ball for Iloski, who was waiting right outside the goal area.

Iloski put his first-time shot attempt between Dynamo goalkeeper Jonathan Bond’s legs and into the middle of the goal for the 1-0 lead.

Milan Iloski netted his tenth goal of the MLS season, as the goal lifted him as the club’s top scorer so far, with Valakari recording his seventh assist. 

After a cleared opposing corner, Dynamo forward Amine Bassi punted a skying long ball into his attacking half with forward Lawrence Ennali chasing down the towering pass, beating San Diego’s Luca Bombino in the foot race to the ball. 

Ennali’s headed separating touch found him in a one-on-one opportunity with San Diego FC goalkeeper CJ dos Santos as Ennali lifted a shot over the closing out and sliding CJ dos Santos as his shot landed into the far left side netting for the 1-1 equalizer in the 36-minute.

The match wouldn’t go into the halftime break on equal terms, as Dynamo defender Franco Escobar's outside-the-box and off-the-post strike in the 45+3-minute was the go-ahead goal for Houston as they led 2-1 going into the locker rooms.

San Diego FC found their equalizer within the first ten minutes of the second half, as a centered pass off a set piece by forward Anders Dreyer saw several San Diego touches, ultimately finding Luca Bombino near the far post as he bounced a left-footed shot into the ground, hopping past Jonathan Bond and into the left side of the goal for the 2-2 leveler in the 54-minute. 

An eventful day for Luca Bombino, as his 54-minute equalizing goal recorded his first professional goal for the club. 

San Diego continued their offensive momentum from the second half to regain their lead in the 67-minute, as a looped over the top pass from subbed-on Mexican international and designated player, Chucky Lozano, found midfielder Jeppe Tverskov inside the penalty box.

Following the pass, Tverskov centered a low-driven pass for forward Anders Dreyer near the penalty marker, with his shot finding the net after being deflected off Onni Valakari. Valakari’s claimed fourth goal of the season put San Diego back on top for the 3-2 advantage.

Moments later, Dynamo forward Ezequiel Ponce looked to have leveled the match for Houston in the 71-minute, but after a VAR check, referee Timothy Ford disallowed the scoring play with a Dynamo player caught in an offside position on the build play to the goal, the match remained 3-2.

Luca Bombino's eventful night wasn't over yet, this time with his backpass intended for CJ dos Santos being intercepted by Dynamo’s Ezequiel Ponce, with Ponce taken down inside the penalty box as CJ dos Santos got the bad end of the stick on their collision leading to a lengthy medical check on the pitch.

The recovery tackle was deemed a foul with referee Timothy Ford pointing to the point in the 79-minute. 

It would take roughly eight minutes for the Dynamo's penalty attempt to be taken after CJ dos Santos was cleared to continue. Ezequiel Ponce stepped up to the spot and fired a rocket of a penalty strike in the top center of the goal with CJ dos Santos diving to his right. 

The Dynamo tied the match at 3-3 in the 87-minute, with the long medical check-up delay seeing an unusual 17 injury minutes added to the match by the fourth official. 

It would be Houston that benefited from the added time, as Ezequiel Ponce found the score sheet once again, this time in the 100-minute of the match as he pushed a left footed shot into the far side netting, ending the extended goal party with the Houston Dynamo coming into Snapdragon Stadium and escaping with the 4-3 thrilling away victory. 

Following their 4-3 home loss to the Houston Dynamo, San Diego FC were unable to take advantage of the Vancouver Whitecaps' mishaps on Friday, as San Diego’s hiccups leaves first place in the west up for grabs, as the Whitecaps hold a game in hand only trailing the top seed by one point. 

At the post-match press conference following the loss against the Houston Dynamo, San Diego FC head coach Mikey Varas spoke on the struggles and defensive difficulties seen in the match. 

"We didn't play well. We didn't play within our principles for long enough, we weren't collective enough, and we strayed a bit tonight. Even when we probably put about 20 minutes of good football together, at the first team level, that's not good enough.”

“The collective connection of the group wasn't there. The consistency of our principles wasn't there, the intensity of our actions weren't there and then we didn't have the quality on the night in certain moments. So definitely there were some individual errors, but all of those things come from the fact that we just weren't good enough as a group.”

“Obviously, really disappointed in the result today at home,” San Diego FC midfielder Onni Valakari said on the result against Houston. “After three away matches, expected to win at home, so disappointed in that. The game, I think, we were lacking a little bit, our style in some moments. Obviously, some moments were good also, and we have to work on them again, but the bad moments, we have to get a little bit better.” 

“I think first of all, it's analyzing the game, because I think we know we did a lot of things wrong,” San Diego FC midfielder and captain Jeppe Tverskov said on getting his team to bounce back. “I think it's also a lot of sloppy goals tonight for us that's hard to look at, but it needs to be done.”

San Diego FC remains at 39 points on the season, as their record on the MLS season now reads twelve wins, six losses, and three draws.  

With the July 5 match being their first meeting, San Diego FC will have to wait until October 4 later this year for a chance at revenge against the Houston Dynamo, as that reverse MLS fixture sees San Diego head to Shell Energy Stadium. 

As for their next matchday, San Diego FC head back on the road, traveling up to Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, next Saturday for their interleague matchup against Chicago Fire FC on July 12, kicking off at 5:30 p.m.