Two teams with identical records, San Diego FC and FC Cincinnati, will meet for the first time ever Saturday night in San Diego.
Cincinnati (4-5-4, 16 points) is coming off a tough loss Wednesday night, 5-3 at home against Inter Miami. It was Cincinnati’s first loss since April 4, snapping a streak of six straight matches without a loss.
The Orange and Blue’s defense and consistency must improve if they’re going to climb the Eastern Conference standings.
“We’re still very naive in decisions, mistakes,” head coach Pat Noonan said. “Maybe it’s confidence, maybe it’s comfort level in certain spots, but like I said, we can’t recover from the mistakes we’re making. It’s not just the last two games, it’s a trend.”
A key, though, to Cincinnati getting back in the mix in the Eastern Conference has been improvements on offense. Cincinnati has scored three or more goals four times in its last seven matches and multiple goals in each of its last six.
Kevin Denkey and Evander are both starting to consistently find the net, now with 15 combined goals this season.
San Diego (4-5-4, 16 points) is looking to build on a 5-0 romp of Austin FC Wednesday night. It was the team’s first win in league play since March 7. After winning its first three regular-season games, San Diego went 0-5-4 in its next nine matches.
Marcus Ingvarsten leads San Diego with nine goals, with Anders Dreyer second with six. Despite a losing record, San Diego FC holds a plus-5 goal differential.
“Everybody feels better when you win,” head coach Mikey Varas said. “But after the last few matches, this is not an overnight thing. This was building little by little, the performances were getting better and better. You could feel the group was building momentum.”
San Diego is 3-2-2 at home this season and is 4-0-3 when leading at halftime.
–Field Level Media
