Luca Bombino scores 100th goal in Club history; SDFC finishes with 10 men while suffering first home loss of the 2026 MLS Regular Season
SAN DIEGO (Saturday, April 11, 2026) – San Diego FC (SDFC) suffered its first home loss of the 2026 MLS season, falling 2-1 to Minnesota United FC at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday night.
SDFC struck early through Luca Bombino, but Minnesota responded with two first-half goals to take control of the match. San Diego was later reduced to 10 men early in the second half after Christopher McVey was sent off for a second yellow card.
Bombino’s opener in the 7th minute marked his first goal of the 2026 MLS season and the 100th in club history across all competitions. Despite pushing for an equalizer while down a man, SDFC was unable to find a breakthrough in the second half.
SDFC will next travel to face Real Salt Lake on Saturday, April 18 at America First Field before returning to Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, April 25. SDFC is back home for a Western Conference rivalry against the Portland Timbers, presented by Michelob ULTRA. Cheer on the Chrome and Azul and secure your tickets now.
Goal Scoring Plays:
SD – 1-0 – Luca Bombino (Lewis Morgan and Anders Dreyer), 7th minute: Bombino fired a left-footed volley into the left side netting to open the scoring. The goal – his first of the 2026 MLS Regular Season – came off a cross from Lewis Morgan on the right, finding Bombino just outside the six-yard box.
MIN – 1-1 – Kyle Duncan (Tomas Chancalay) 15th minute: Kyle Duncan headed home a long cross from Tomas Chancalay to level the match. Duncan made a run into the six-yard box and met the delivery with a well-placed finish.
MIN – 1-2 – Kelvin Yeboa (Anthony Markanich and Owen Gene) 40th Minute: Kelvin Yeboah poked in a loose ball at the goal line to give Minnesota the lead. The chance came from a driven cross by Markanich into the center of the box, where Yeboah reacted quickly to finish from close range following a deflection.
Postgame Notes:
- With tonight’s 2-1 loss against Minnesota United, SDFC suffered its first defeat at home and second overall in the 2026 MLS Regular Season.
- SDFC now has a 3-2-2 record with 11 points.
- Despite tonight’s loss, SDFC has outscored opponents 13-10 in its first six matches of the regular season.
- The loss also snapped an SDFC three-match home win streak in MLS Regular Season play this season.
- SDFC is 19-9-6 all-time against Western Conference teams in the regular season.
- SDFC now holds a 22-11-8 all-time regular season record.
- SDFC is now 2-2-0 all-time against Minnesota United and 1-2 in the Regular Season.
- SDFC is 3-1 at home this MLS Regular Season.
- SDFC had 715 passes completed compared to Minnesota’s 413 tonight.
- SDFC had 60 percent possession compared to Minnesota’s 40 percent.
- SDFC now has 100 goals across all competitions (MLS, Leagues Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup).
- SDFC is now 5-4-2 in 2026 across all competitions (MLS Regular Season 3-2-2, Concacaf Champions Cup 2-2).
- SDFC has outscored opponents 21-17 across all competitions in 2026 (14-10 in MLS).
- SDFC is 1-1 in one goal games this season.
- SDFC suffered its first loss when scoring the first goal and is now 3-1-1 when scoring first in regular season matches.
- SDFC has now gone four-straight MLS matches without a win.
- With his 7th minute goal, defender Luca Bombino registered his first goal of the 2026 MLS regular season, marked the fourth-fasted goal in Club history, and also marked the Club’s 100th goal in all completions through 53 games played.
- Bombino now has two goals and two assists in 2026. He owns three career goals and five assists across all senior competitions.
- Winger Anders Dreyer registered his 54th goal contribution (27 goals, 27 assists) with SDFC across all competitions during Bombino’s goal tonight.
- Midfielder Lewis Morgan registered his first career MLS assist and his first with SDFC during Bombino’s goal tonight.
- Morgan also made his second MLS start for SDFC tonight. He also made his fourth MLS appearance with the club.
- Onni Valakari and Anders Dreyer are the only players to play in all 41 of SDFC’s regular season and five post-season matches for a total of 46 MLS career appearances each.
- Goalkeeper Duran Ferree made his sixth MLS start tonight.
- Newcomer Osvald Søe made his second career MLS start and his second with SDFC. He also made his fourth consecutive MLS Regular Season appearance. He has played in SDFC’s last six matches, including two consecutive appearances in the CCC.
- 18-year-old forward Bryan Zamblé made his first-ever MLS start tonight. He also made his fourth appearance with SDFC.
- Defender Willy made his second 2026 MLS Regular Season appearance tonight when he came on as a substitute for Oscar Verhoeven in the 80th minute. He made his season debut last week against San Jose also as a second half substitute.
- Midfielder Bryce Duke made his second appearance for SDFC when he came on as a substitute for Aníbal Godoy in the 80th minute, also making his third appearance across all competitions.
- Defender Christopher McVey was back in tonight’s Starting XI after missing last week’s match at San Jose while serving a red card suspension.
- McVey will miss the next MLS Regular Season match after receiving a second yellow card and was ejected tonight.
- Defender Manu Duah missed tonight’s match, serving a red card suspension.
- SDFC has had six red cards in its last six matches across all competitions (two red cards vs. Toluca on March 11, one at Toluca on March 18, one vs. Real Salt Lake on March 22, one at San Jose on April 4 and one vs. Minnesota United tonight.)
Match Information
2026 MLS Regular Season
San Diego FC vs. Minnesota United FC
Saturday, April 11, 2026 – Snapdragon Stadium (San Diego, Calif.)
Scoring Summary: SD (1-0) – Luca Bombino (Assisted by Lewis Morgan and Anders Dreyer) 7’
MIN (1-1) Kyle Duncan (Assisted by Tomas Chancalay) 15’
MIN (1-2) Kelvin Yeboa (Assisted by Anthony Markanich and Owen Gene), 40’
Misconduct Summary:
SD– Christopher McVey (caution, 12’)
SD – Oscar Verhoeven (caution, 30’) SD – Christopher McVey (caution, ejection, 46’) MIN – Joaquin Pereyra (caution, 69’)
Lineups:
SAN DIEGO FC: GK Duran Ferree; D Osvald Søe, D Luca Bombino, D Oscar Verhoeven (Bryce Duke, 80’), D Christopher McVey; M Onni Valakari, M Jeppe Tverskov –C–, M Aníbal Godoy (Bryce Duke, 80’); F Anders Dreyer, F Lewis Morgan (David Vazquez, 73’), F Bryan Zamblé (Marcus Ingvartsen, 53’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK CJ Dos Santos, M Pedro Soma, F Anisse Saidi, D Willy, F Emmanuel Boateng, F Alex Mighten.
TOTAL SHOTS: 17; SHOTS ON GOAL: 6; FOULS: 8; OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES; 4
MINNESOTA UNITED FC: GK Drake Callender; M Nicolas Romero (Devin Padelford, 68’), D Anthony Markanich, D Jefferson Diaz (Carlos Harvey, 71’), M Nectarios Triantis, M Joaquin Pereyra –C– (Bongokuhle Hlongwane, 83’), M Owen Gene (Will Trapp, 68’), M Tomas Chancalay, F Kelvin Yeboah (Mamdou Dieng, 83’), F Kyle Duncan
Substitutes Not Used: GK Alec Smir, F Mauricio Gonzalez, M DJ Taylor, D Kieran Chandler
TOTAL SHOTS: 18; SHOTS ON GOAL: 7; FOULS: 18; OFFSIDES 2; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 5
Referee: Victor Rivas
Assistant Referees: Jeremy Kieso, Nick Balcer
Fourth Official: Timothy Ford
VAR: Chris Penso
AVAR: Craig Lowry Weather: 62-degrees, Clear
Attendance: 23,394
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
SDFC HEAD COACH MIKEY VARAS
Opening Statement:
"First and foremost, I'm sure there's going to be a question about the continued red cards. I don't know. I can't explain exactly what's happening, other than I think we're receiving some harsh calls, and we're just in one of those situations where nothing's going our way, in that sense. But at the end of the day, it's a tough moment that we're in and we all recognize it. The most important thing is, that we're all together and getting ourselves out of it and we know that we will. We have the players and the people involved that we are going to get back to being our best."
On the recent string of red cards and if they will be appealing D Chris McVey's red card tonight:
"Yeah, they don't really do that. I agree. We've received a lot of harsh calls of late, including their second goal, where, for me, it's pretty clear that [Anthony] Markanich is jumping on the shoulders, but at the end of the day like we're not at our best also. So, we'll do everything we can, but right now, the most important thing is to know that we have to get back to basic things and make this who we are."
On how the red cards have been impacting the depth of the center back position:
"I mean, the center backs are usually the ones that are in the last line of confrontation, and in those interventions at the end of the day. You know, I have full faith in the roster that we have right now. Of course, we're always looking to improve our depth and improve the level that we have. But as of right now, the depth is not the issue, it's more circumstances. You know, sometimes you get in this whirlwind where nothing's going your way and you can't lose focus of the things that help you be your best, because when things start falling our way, we want to be able to take advantage of it when they do."
On his takeaways from tonight's match in comparison to last week's match:
"Yeah, I think two totally different games. I think we start pretty bright, the game actually. And, you know, we score, and I think they're starting to man mark us, and we find some pretty good solutions. I think we're just a hair away from making some even bigger chances, and we actually do create a couple more really big chances. And then, yeah, just a few actions that we start to kind of get away from our best, kind of in the middle of the half, and they capitalize on it. And then the red cards have a huge influence, because it's exhausting playing 10 against 11. It's really hard to play with initiative. I think the team did pretty well, actually. Again, I guess the bright side is, you start getting better playing 10 against 11 when you do it so often. But I would say the one positive, last week I didn't feel like there was much. I didn't think there was any positive to take from the game. I think the positive is that we started the game better, and this second half, 10 against 11, you start seeing little flashes of what made us great, finding Anders [Dreyer] in these kind of pocket situations, getting Jeppe [Tverskov] on the ball, getting in behind their back line. Now, we just got to put it together. We got to leave it on the field."
SDFC FORWARD LEWIS MORGAN
On playing his natural position and getting another start:
“Yeah. I mean anytime you get the place of privilege, you know, obviously, I missed a lot of football last year, and it's about, I don't want to be too patient myself. You know, I came here to contribute. I had a bit of a slow start, either with rhythm, with injuries, and trying to get back into the flow of things. Yeah, obviously, like the same. Anytime you play, it's a privilege. You get these chances when you take them with both hands. And obviously the most frustrating tonight is the result. We want to put together a complete performance tonight, and I think the resemblance of it, and then so many things that we can improve on and do better. So, football always gets just chances to put that right and get training ahead of us, and then double away game to really get back on track.”
On the red cards in recent games:
“Yeah, of course. Listen, red cards are always going to influence games all it says it's a team responsibility. You know, we, we pride ourselves on having control again, and some moments when we maybe went down a man in the games prior. It's not an individual's fault, you know. It says a team. How are we putting ourselves in those positions I think it's something that we can improve on. And I think it's just about having each other's backs, you know, and having more control in the games, long term vision for the club, and what I see is probably the same. So, everyone else's we've got an amazing group of fans here that I still feel everyone's completely bought. And you know, we know how well this Club's done last year and how well we're going to do this year. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind, I've been in this league long enough, and I know a really good team. When I see one, I feel like we've got a special group of players there, and everything goes through adversity. You know, something we bang on about is resilience, and I've got, like, I say, no doubt that this group are going to take this is motivation to tend to improve and bounce back.”
On about how he felt playing in the middle tonight compared to playing on the wing: “No, to be honest, I don't really prefer one of the other. I think different games throughout maybe different just different horses or different courses, you know. And I think I enjoy playing football of the wing, and I also enjoy playing through the middle. So it's whatever the management team and the coaching staff see throughout the week, whatever they think is best to set up the team. I'm always fully bought in I'm not someone to throw the toys in the pan if I'm not playing in one position. I think at the end of the day, it's about, how can you help your teammates and both positions, for me, feel comfortable, they both feel natural. So, I don't really have a preference.”
SDFC CAPTAIN JEPPE TVERSKOV
On the team’s red cards:
“The message is, first of all, we don't think anybody does it on purpose. It's situations where you take a decision, and now way too many times, it has ended up being catastrophic for us. The red card changed the games in a way that it's difficult for us to keep the ball, but we miss one guy higher up the line to really break through and it's more difficult to get forward into the pitch. So yeah, obviously it's not the red card today. That's the reason we don't win the game. We are behind two too one before [Chris McVey’s ejection], but it makes it very difficult to get back in the game. And that's also a big part of football.”
On what the team needs to do to fix the red cards issue:
“Yeah, we are not at the point anymore where we can't talk about it like it needs to be addressed, for sure, because now it’s a big problem. It cost us way too many points. We have other problems also, because, as I said, both today and last game, we are behind [in the score] before we get the red card. And it's a situation again, where today, it's not like taking away a goal scoring opportunity, but it takes away, basically the possibility of us getting back into rhythm, into the game. So yeah, it's it feels crazy by now, and looking also looking back on last year, I feel like we probably already, right now, have more red cards than we had the whole [2025] season.”
On what are the biggest issues with the team and how can it be figured out: “I feel like people also last year knew how to try to know how to defend us, but we were more clean, our passes, our combinations, our synergies up front were very good. Now we are not connected as we've been last year. Combination doesn't flow as good as they have. Sometimes it's the thing that's difficult to explain, but we feel it on the pitch. We feel a little bit out there that we are not as sharp as we were last year. So, yeah, sometimes it takes time. When you get new players and change the Starting XI a little bit. We have to do it both because of the injuries, especially also red card. So, yeah, maybe we're not in sync right now, and we need to step it up.”
