San Diego FC will head to Portland without Anders Dreyer, the player who just lifted it past Los Angeles FC with an 89th-minute penalty before picking up two yellow cards in the 90th minute and triggering a suspension. That leaves Mikey Varas to remake his attack for a Western Conference match that arrives with San Diego level on points with Portland.
Dreyer has been the most influential piece in San Diego’s attack, with 10 goals and seven assists this season, so his absence changes more than one spot in the lineup. Varas said the club is already looking at how to replace him specifically against Portland, and called it a chance for someone else to step up in a tough test.
The timing matters because San Diego has just found its footing again. After the World Cup break, it has gone unbeaten in three MLS outings, winning two and drawing one, after a run that had included three straight games without a victory on either side of the break. That revival has pulled San Diego to 12th in the Western Conference, one point behind ninth-place Minnesota United, while Portland sits 10th and level on points with San Diego.
Portland is not arriving quietly, either. Marti Cifuentes lost his first MLS game in charge, a 2-1 defeat to the Chicago Fire, but Portland had gone unbeaten in four matches before that with three wins and a draw. Finn Surman added a first MLS goal with a header on Sunday, a reminder that Portland still has a threat from set pieces and second balls even as its new coach asks for more from the group.
That is where the problem for San Diego sharpens. The team can point to its recent form, but it now has to prove that run was about more than one hot scorer carrying the load. Marcus Ingvartsen has 11 goals and two assists, yet Dreyer’s timing and volume have made him the player opponents most need to track, and Varas is still deciding how to fill the gap against a side that already beat San Diego 2-1 on April 25 for its first win ever in the matchup.
San Diego has been without a win in its past three games before this recent surge and has already seen how thin the margin is against Portland. This trip will show whether the improvement is broad enough to survive the loss of its sharpest edge, or whether Dreyer’s suspension turns a good run into a test the club is not yet built to pass.
