It’s been more than a month since San Diego FC needed to bounce back from a defeat.
Standing in the way of doing so again are the Chicago Fire, who aim for just their third home victory when the clubs meet on Saturday night.
Expansion San Diego (12-6-3, 39 points) still sits atop the Western Conference despite seeing the end to its four-game winning streak with last weekend’s 4-3 home loss to the Houston Dynamo. It was the club’s first defeat since falling 1-0 at Seattle on May 28.
“When we’re all united by our convictions and our effort, then anything is possible,” San Diego coach Mikey Varas said.
“We know that winning and losing is a razor-thin line,” he said. “It’s an edge that’s so difficult to predict, but what you can do is make sure everybody is ready to give yourself the best chances.”
San Diego is having little trouble finding ways to triumph away from home, where it has outscored opponents 12-7 during a three-match road winning stretch. Milan Iloski has scored eight goals in the last five matches, including a team-record four goals in his first MLS start in a 5-3 win at Vancouver. He leads the team with 10 goals this season.
Iloski and San Diego get their first look at the Fire (8-8-4, 28 points), who are just above the playoff line in the Eastern Conference but 2-3-4 at home. Chicago has a chance to win consecutive home league matches for the first time this season following a 3-2 victory over Charlotte on June 28.
That’s the lone victory in the last four overall league matches for the Fire, who also need to rebound after falling 2-1 at East-leading FC Cincinnati last weekend. The Fire were also eliminated from U.S. Open Cup play following Tuesday’s 3-1 loss at Minnesota, which sits third in the West.
“We’ve struggled so far beating the top teams,” Fire coach Gregg Berhalter said. “That’s something we need to work on. … Against top teams, I think it’s the small things that make a difference.”
Chicago All-Star forward Philip Zinckernagel has scored six times in his last seven MLS matches and is second on the squad with nine goals behind Hugo Cuypers (11).
–Field Level Media
