SAN DIEGO - St. Louis City SC is no stranger to an inaugural MLS home game, having opened their own home in Downtown West just two years ago. On Saturday night, City were the visitors for San Diego FC’s first MLS home game at Snapdragon Stadium.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
With the support of 34,506 fans behind them, San Diego came out of the locker room with plenty of energy, but couldn’t capitalize on their ample first half possession. Neither team created too many offensive chances, and played out a goalless draw.
After their goalless draw on Matchday 1 at Energizer Park in St. Louis, City head coach Olof Mellberg opted for a few tweaks for his team’s second match. Cedric Teuchert and Simon Becher started in attack, sending Joao Klauss to the bench.
Conrad Wallem got the start in San Diego after impressing in limited time last week. Wallem started as a left wingback, which saw Jannes Horn drop back to the left center back spot, alongside Henry Kessler and Kyle Hiebert in St. Louis City’s back three. Josh Yaro, who started on that back line against Colorado at home, fell to the substitutes bench.
San Diego FC, with their new fans behind them in their first home match, came out of the locker room looking to impress. SDFC dominated possession in the first half hour, but City’s new-look defense never gave up a clear opportunity.
“I thought we started a little bit slow in the first 10-15 [minutes],” said St. Louis City head coach Olof Mellberg. “They found a couple of balls in behind [City’s defense] that were dangerous, but after that, we defended really well.”
The big moment of the first half, unfortunately, was a non-contact injury to San Diego’s star and biggest signing, Hirving “Chucky” Lozano. The Mexican International star pulled up lame, grabbing his right hamstring, signaling to the SDFC bench that he needed a substitute.
Even watching on the Apple TV feed, one could feel the air deflate a bit in SnapDragon Stadium. The star man thousands were there to see leaving after less than half an hour was not the way the Chrome and Azul side wanted to celebrate their home opener.
“It was really nice before the game, and especially in the beginning of the game,” said Olof Mellberg on the atmosphere in San Diego. “I think we managed to do well to sort of kill the party a little bit. They didn't really get as many chances as they were hoping. Also, it was very unfortunate for them to have their big star injured early on.”
Despite being on the wrong end of the possession battle, St. Louis City had the biggest scoring chance of the first half. Akil Watts smashed a shot from outside the box that forced San Diego keeper Carlos Dos Santos to dive to his right.
Moments later, San Diego FC had their best chance of the half on a corner kick that went over the mass of bodies in and around the six yard box, and straight to veteran Anibal Godoy to Roman Bürki’s right. Godoy hit a shot first-time off the corner that went comfortably into the arms of the City captain and keeper, his first save of the 2025 MLS Season.
Those opportunities on goal proved to be the most dangerous of the evening. City’s new-look lockdown defense proved largely impenetrable, and of the 15 shots SDFC took on the evening, only Anibal Godoy’s tame shot off the corner actually found the target.
Godoy was the difference maker for San Diego, especially in the absence of Chucky Lozano. Godoy directed traffic with the ball in midfield, and once he was substituted in the 71st minute, SDFC didn’t seem to have the cut and thrust that they did in the first half.
St. Louis City couldn’t create any sustained threat offensively all night. Joao Klauss, brought on for exactly that reason, hit a weak side-footed shot off a 70th minute set piece right at Carlos Dos Santos for City’s lone shot of the second half.
Olof Mellberg, the defensive-minded coach he is, opted to shore up the back in the late stages rather than bring on attacking substitutes and push for a late winner. One of these defensive subs came at halftime, with attacker Cedric Teuchert making way for Chris Durkin, who played his first minutes of the MLS season after not featuring on Matchday 1.
“We wanted to be a little bit stronger there defensively,” said Mellberg, explaining the Teuchert for Durkin sub in detail. “[Durkin] is good on the ball, he found central passes on a few okay occasions. We wanted to be a little bit more solid with a trio in the midfield. Cedric didn't have more than 45 minutes, it was planned from before the game.”
Eduard Löwen, for a second consecutive week, made way at the hour mark for new City signee Alfredo Morales. Morales is a bit more of a defense-first midfielder than Löwen, and Olof Mellberg has been keen to get Morales minutes in the middle of the park for St. Louis.
Conrad Wallem impressed in his first start in City colors, but was substituted for center back Josh Yaro in the 79th minute. Yaro slotted in his usual center back spot, and Jannes Horn moved up to the left wingback spot that Wallem had vacated.
St. Louis fans will be happy to see that Celio Pompeu made the field for his first MLS minutes since his gruesome leg injury last June. Pompeu saw out the final moments with City after coming on in the 86th minute.
Perhaps a bigger story than the on-field action in the second half was the off-field action in the stands. San Diego fans were shouting a homophobic chant every time St. Louis had a goal kick, and the public address announcer at SnapDragon Stadium had to make multiple requests for the fans to stop doing the chant.
The last request threatened the suspension or possible abandonment of the game, which is now a rule legislated by CONCACAF and FIFA. That warning came in the 93rd minute, and it remains to be seen if San Diego will be punished in any way for the homophobic chant heard throughout their home opener.
“The chant” as it is so often referred to, has been outlawed by US Soccer since 2022. US Soccer’s policy includes possible punishments for clubs and fans who participate in homophobic chants.
Back on the field, City could hold their head up high after another sound defensive performance. They’ll need to eventually score goals, of course, but Roman Bürki has faced very little threat through 180 minutes plus stoppage time of MLS play so far.
“I think we played a really good team today,” said Roman Bürki postgame. “[San Diego] just didn't allow anything. Obviously now after the game, we can always say, we should have gone a little bit higher, tried a little bit to press higher. But the quality that I saw from San Diego was there.”
“It would have been maybe too much of a risk if they [drew the City defense] out and then we would not have enough guys behind the ball. I think the way the game was going, we were happy with the point on the road. I told the team before the game that we are not here to entertain the party that they want, and we did that.”
City now has a week and a day before their next MLS game, where they’ll stay in SoCal but head a little bit north to Carson to face the defending MLS Cup Champion LA Galaxy. The game will be Sunday, March 9, with kickoff just after 6 p.m. Central time.
More like this:
