San Diego FC advance to conference semifinals with dominant 4-0 win against the Portland Timbers
San Diego FC players celebrate a goal by Anders Dreyer in the team’s 4-0 victory against the Portland Timbers. (Emmanuel Alonso/Sandiego.futbol)
A layer of fog enveloped Mission Valley on the evening of November 9, as an announced crowd of 32,502 filled Snapdragon Stadium to cheer on San Diego FC in their decisive 4-0 victory against the Portland Timbers.
“Of course it’s the win that’s important, moving on, but that type of performance, decisive, no questions,” said Varas. “These guys are monsters , and I think that they were just ready, and we’re carrying a little bit of that frustration and anger from the last game and wanted to make a point.”
San Diego FC made that point early on with a goal by Anders Dreyer only five minutes into the match.
The home side took advantage of a stretched out Portland defense that left far too much open space for Onni Valakari to run through the midfield. Valakari moved up the pitch with no challenge and sent in a perfect cross to the feet of Dreyer inside the box. Dreyer sent the ball in perfectly as a volley with his left foot to make it 1-0.
The fans in Snapdragon Stadium erupted with a deafening pop as they waved their rally towels in celebration. The goal and reaction acted as the tone-setter for the rest of the domination that would persist through the subsequent 85 minutes.
Onni Valakari contributed once again, this time in the 17th minute in a very similar quick play taking advantage of Portland's unprepared defense. Valakari sent in a perfect cross from outside the box, only this time it went high perfectly within range for Amahl Pellegrino to head in. His initial header was saved by the goalkeeper, but the deflection landed right back in front of Pellegrino allowing him to tap it in easily to make it 2-0.
Following the goal Pellegrino was bodychecked by a Timbers defender and went to the ground, but he stood right up and left to celebrate. When asked about the hit, Pellegrino said, “I don't care. We are on to the next one, and they are going to Cancun to have a holiday.”
“They can play like they want, but I'm just thinking about my teammates and how we play. I think we let our feet do the talking, and that's what I like with this team, that we show our personality,” said Pellegrino.
San Diego faced a couple of near goal-scoring opportunities by Portland, but most missed or hit the woodwork. The closest Portland came to getting on the board was in the 27th minute when a Timbers player headed the ball inside the penalty area and bounced it off Chris McVey toward the back of the net. SDFC Goalkeeper, Pablo Sisniega, stopped the ball on the line to maintain the clean sheet with an important save to maintain the home team’s momentum.
Both Pellegrino and Dreyer went on to score in the second half with two more great goals fostered by the team’s stellar attacking philosophy.
Pellegrino’s came in the 53rd minute after great building play and a cross by Corey baird toward the far post, Pellegrino simply smashed in a volley that the keeper had no chance to stop to make it 3-0.
Dreyer’s goal occurred in the 79th minute after a long ball by SDFC captain, Jeppe Tverskov, went to Marcus Ingvartsen. Ingvartsen was defended vigourously and held back from advancing. The referee determined it was a foul but played advantage as Hirving “Chucky” Lozano had wide open space in front of him along with the ball. He moved it up a bit more into the right channel before placing a perfect cross for Dreyer to smash in once again making it 4-0.
Frustration eventually boiled over for the Timbers in the 80th minute when Mosqueera got a red card for pushing Hirving “Chucky” Lozano in the chest with his forearm after being fouled. Lozano seemingly embellished the contact falling to the ground and grabbing his face, but it was definitely enough to earn the red card.
The MLS playoffs will pause during the FIFA international window for two weeks. They will return to Mission Valley on Monday, November 24, to take on the fourth seed Minnesota United in a one-game elimination match to advance to the MLS Western Conference finals.
