Second place in the Western Conference will be up for grabs when San Diego FC and Minnesota United kick off the second half of their MLS seasons on Saturday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
San Diego (9-5-3, 30 points) and Minnesota United (8-3-6, 30 points) enter the contest tied for the No. 2 spot in the West, five points behind the first-place Vancouver Whitecaps.
San Diego has been one of the league’s biggest surprises in its expansion season, winning five of its last seven matches. The squad, though, will likely will be without star winger Hirving “Chucky” Lozano (five goals, six assists).
Lozano departed the team’s last MLS match, a 2-0 win over Austin FC on May 31, with a hamstring injury that kept him off Mexico’s Gold Cup roster.
Luca de la Torre, a midfielder on the U.S. National Team, scored his fourth goal of the year in the 60th minute for what proved to be the game-winner against Austin, and Milan Iloski sealed it with a goal in stoppage time.
San Diego kept sharp during the international break with a 3-0 victory in a friendly with Liga MX power Club America last Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium with Iloski scoring a brace.
“I know it’s called a friendly. There’s no such thing as a friendly,” San Diego coach Mikey Varas said. “If you’re going to put your boots on, you want to win the game. … Club America is a historically massive club. They come here, it doesn’t matter, we want to win the game.”
Minnesota United is unbeaten (2-0-2) in its last four matches and comes off a milestone 3-2 victory over the Seattle Sounders on June 1.
Minnesota entered the contest winless in 10 road matches in team history against the Sounders but scored three times over an eight-minute span in the second half to pull out the win. Tani Oluwaseyi scored a brace and Robin Lod converted a penalty kick to lead the Loons.
“It was a really important win, and I’m pleased for everyone connected with this club because I know it’s something that people wanted off (their) back as soon as possible,” Minnesota coach Eric Ramsay said.
“They’re a team that has sustained success, and we need to be able to show repeatedly that we can beat those teams.”
–Field Level Media
