City Second Best In 2-0 Defeat In San Diego

City plays back at home this weekend on Saturday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m. against the Seattle Sounders.

Mar 2, 2026 7:02 PM

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SAN DIEGO - St. Louis City SC made their way west on Sunday night to take on San Diego FC, two teams who had very different seasons in 2025. The primetime matchup paired the reigning MLS Western Conference champion San Diego against a City side that was just four points off the bottom of the same conference, finishing 13th overall.

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On paper, it was an uneven matchup. On the Snapdragon Stadium field on Sunday, it was an uneven matchup. The hosts jumped out to an early lead, City failed to retort, and spent the rest of the game chasing shadows, losing 2-0.

There were two notable absences for Yoann Damet’s St. Louis City team. Again midfielder Eduard Löwen was away from the club, which has been the case for most of 2026. Attacking midfielder and City’s lone goalscorer in 2026 Marcel Hartel also missed Sunday’s away trip, as he stayed home with his wife as they expected the birth of their second child.

“Of course, we've known for a while that [Marcel Hartel] is expecting his second child, which we're really happy for him and his wife,” said City head coach Yoann Damet. “So, the closer we got to the game, I think things changed a little bit just before we left, which obviously changed the decision to travel or not for him and for us as well.

“So again, there are things that are bigger than soccer. Having a second child is definitely one of them. So, we support him fully. He couldn't be there this weekend, and he was the first one disappointed, but at the same time, he's expecting the most beautiful news that any human being could have.”

Almost incredibly, this is the first match and start that Marcel Hartel has missed for City. He has been an ever-present in a team that has been constantly changing around him, starting in 49 consecutive games before Sunday night.

The actual injury list includes presumed starting center back Fallou Fall, who is dealing with an ankle injury, depth midfielder Tomas Ostrak, who has a leg injury, and teenager Tyson Pearce who has a lingering hip injury.

The City team that faced San Diego had only one change thanks to Marcel Hartel staying home. The defense was unchanged, from left to right: Rafael Santos at left wingback, Dante Polvara at left center back, Timo Baumgartl in the heart of the three center backs, Jaziel Orozco as the right center back, and Conrad Wallem as a right wingback.

Daniel Edelman and Chris Durkin manned the engine room in midfield. Stepping in for Marcel Hartel was Miguel Perez, the City homegrown talent who saw MLS time in the team’s inaugural season. Perez spent 2024 having an on-and-off loan spell with Birmingham Legion in the USL Championship, and came back to the City fold in 2025 with CITY2. It’s Perez’s first City start since June 24, 2023.

Opposite of Miguel Perez on the left side of the attack was Sangbin Jeong on the right, with Simon Becher again getting the nod in the striker position.

In the blink of an eye, City were already down 1-0 in less than three minutes thanks to a goal from San Diego FC’s main man, Anders Dreyer.

The man who spearheaded SDFC’s attack in 2025 with a whopping 23 goals and 17 assists (40 total goal contributions, for comparison, St. Louis City had 44 total goals as a team) capped off a blistering San Diego move with a curling left footed shot into the bottom-right corner of the City goal.

Specifically creating the goal for the home team was Marcus Ingvartsen’s ability to find space between the City defenders, who had become transfixed by San Diego’s Onni Valakari dribbling, unchallenged, up the middle of the field. Valakari found Ingvartsen at the edge of the St. Louis 18-yard box, Ingvartsen tried to settle the bouncing ball, but in a moment of brilliance, flicked a half-volley pass into the path of the onrushing Anders Dreyer who made no mistake with his finish.

Dreyer nearly had a second mere moments later, and again it was Marcus Ingvartsen laying a pass off in his direction. Fortunately for the visitors, Anders Dreyer lifted this shot over the bar and into the Snapdragon Stadium crowd.

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City captain and keeper Roman Bürki was called into action early and often Sunday night, making multiple saves in the opening 15 minutes of gametime that kept the game close. In the 23rd minute, the visiting City saw their best chance of the game slip away.

St. Louis wingback Rafael Santos had the ball at his feet as his team made their way into the San Diego FC 18-yard box. Santos cut a pass back to Chris Durkin, who pinged a first-time pass to the feet of Miguel Perez. Perez had made a run and found a gap in the SDFC defense on the left side of the box.

Perez squared a pass to strike Simon Becher, who found space between San Diego’s center backs and was making a run to the six-yard box. The pass from Perez wasn’t exactly where Becher needed it, forcing Becher to try to stop and readjust his feet. Instead of tapping home a goal from a few feet out, Becher’s touch sent the ball well wide of goal before being picked up by the far corner flag by Conrad Wallem.

City did very little beyond that attempt to challenge San Diego goalkeeper Duran Ferree, who did not have to make a single save in the opening 45 minutes. Becher’s failed 23rd minute attempt and a 41st minute shot from outside the box that went well over the goal were the only shots St. Louis could muster in the first half.

SDFC found their second goal nine minutes into the second half, which felt awfully like their first goal. Again San Diego countered right through the City defense, again an attacker on the edge of the box laid a pass off toward the right side. This time, instead of Marcus Ingvartsen passing to Anders Dreyer, it was the inverse. Dreyer played a through ball that sliced through City’s backline and Ingvartsen, the striker who missed a solid chunk of 2025, finished coolly with his right foot.

There was still more than half an hour to play, according to the game clock, but the contest was over by all intents and purposes. City did not have the offensive thrust to come back in the second half, and looked more likely to concede a third than find a goal of their own.

St. Louis City managed two shots on goal, both from substitutes: Cedric Teuchert came on in the 65th minute for Simon Becher and dribbled right through the San Diego box and forced a point-blank range save in the 83rd minute. Ten minutes later, Celio Pompeu, who came on for Sangbin Jeong in the 58th minute, forced a short range save that forced SDFC keeper Duran Ferree to get down low to cover the post to his left.

Cedric Teuchert, who hasn’t been 100 percent as he recovers from an injury that plagued his 2025, was a bright spot for City as a substitute, creating that shot, and offering a bit more in attack as the game wound down. Unfortunately his efforts couldn’t alter the scoreline, and San Diego took a 2-0 victory when referee Drew Fischer blew for full time.

“It's tough, but I tried everything to help the team with some good actions,” Cedric Teuchert said following the loss. Yeah, I tried everything today. I think I had some good actions at the end of the game. I’m coming closer to getting full game fitness back.”

But City had lost the game before Teuchert had even stepped onto the field.

“I think we gave them a little too much respect, playing away and playing a good team,” analyzed St. Louis head coach Yoann Damet during the postgame press conference. “I think there was a little bit of that. I think we needed to be a little bit more physical, a little bit more maybe feisty in those moments and stand our ground.”

“San Diego is a good team; they showed it again tonight,” Damet continued. “But I thought we stayed brave all the way along, and we kept relying on our principles. And for me, that's a positive step forward.”

That sentiment was echoed by defender Jaziel Orozco, who was tasked with dealing with the high-octane San Diego attack. Orozco felt City could have done a better job slowing SDFC down.

“San Diego is one of the teams that you give them one chance, one counter, they can just take advantage of that,” said Orozco. “We need to be better at (preventing the chances). It’s making a foul, making the game a little bit dirty, so we can regroup and be behind the ball again.”

Ultimately, against a team that was one of the best in MLS in 2025 and projects to be one of the best again in 2026, Sunday night was a learning experience for Yoann Damet’s St. Louis City.

“This is our first away game, so everything is new for us at the moment,” Damet elaborated. “We're trying to learn some lessons. And I think today we had a good one.”

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