SDFC’s two-game road trip ended with back-to-back league defeats, falling 1-0 at the Shell Energy Stadium on Wednesday night to plunge into a fourth straight defeat.
A 4-2 loss to Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah, last weekend was San Diego’s third straight loss, extending SDFC’s winless streak to six games in all competitions.
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The away teams enjoyed success in this matchup last season, splitting the two-game series, with both clubs ending the road trip in 2025 with four-goal wins.
The game started calmly, with the Rockets scoring first in the 35th minute with a lethal long pass attack, with forwards Ondrej Lingle and Ibrahim Aliyu combining to make it 1-0.
Starting with an overhead pass from Ondřej Lingr between two SDFC defenders, the Czech striker lifted the ball at the top of the box before driving it straight into the box where Ibrahim Aliyu fired his first-time shot into the net to give Dinamo the advantage.
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Although SDFC led with 65%-35% possession at halftime, their offense still lagged behind and was unable to create chances during possession, ultimately ending the game with zero shots.
Dynamo’s Ringer had a chance to freeze the game in the 74th minute when his shot went around SDFC goalkeeper Duran Ferre, but his shot was blocked twice by both goalposts, keeping the game at 1-0 with 15 minutes left in regular time.
SDFC’s bad luck continued to deepen when forward Amahl Pellegrino was sent off in the 79th minute after a high kick to the head of Dynamo player Felipe Andrade. A seemingly unintentional but dangerous play confirmed the red card decision and left Santiago in trouble in the pursuit of a result.
SDFC’s red card nightmare in 2026 continues even after ending a run of four consecutive sending offs last matchday, with Pellegrino’s first career MLS red card taking the club’s season total to six in all competitions.
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Santiago looked to have tied the score at 1-1 in the 84th minute when substitute Marcus Ingvartsen’s shot hit the back of the net, but referee Rubiel Vazquez immediately declared the equalizer after substitute David Vazquez was passed offside.
Despite nine minutes of added time and a red card from Dinamo in the 90th+7th minute for Ondřej Lingr’s kick-off foul on SDFC’s Ian Pilcher, Chrome & Azul were unable to equalize and ultimately lost 1-0.
After a 0-1 defeat at the Shell Energy Stadium, SDFC’s losing streak increased and is now on a four-match losing streak in Major League Soccer (MLS), without a win in its past seven games in all competitions.
Following Wednesday night’s 1-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo, San Diego FC head coach Mickey Barras reviewed his team’s performance during his post-match press conference, focusing on his team’s improvement despite the poor result.
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“We were dominant for most of the game, coming on the road with two days off and beating them deep. We didn’t miss a lot of chances. They took them. That’s football.”
“We’re going to take that and we’re going to make sure we don’t back off because we need to continue to take steps in the right direction. Because at the end of the day, we’re here to win games.”
“The team is starting to play better, starting to not give up the big chances that we’re giving up, and we’re moving in the right direction. I would say we’re going to be there when it counts.”
“I would say the silver lining is we’re starting to play better. We’ve got more guys coming back and the team is very, very hungry to get back to top form.”
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San Diego FC returns to Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday night after a two-game road trip to host the Portland Timbers on April 25 at 6:30 p.m. looking to end the club’s losing and winless stretch.
This is a foe that SDFC are very familiar with, having faced the Timbers five times in 2025, winning three of them, including a win in the MLS Cup playoff first-round series with Chrome & Azul.
