San Diego FC’s amazing expansion season of firsts continued Sunday night in front of a sellout crowd of 35,000 at Snapdragon Stadium as the locals won their first-ever Major League Soccer playoff match, 2-1, over the visiting Portland Timbers.
San Diego FC moves within one win of advancing to the single-elimination semifinals. The teams rematch Saturday, Nov. 1, in Portland. A win by the Timbers would return the teams to San Diego for a deciding match in the best-of-three Round One series on Nov. 9.
SDFC never trailed in Sunday’s opener, taking a 2-0 lead on goals by Onni Valakari in the 23rd minute and Anders Dreyer in the 30th minute on a diving header.
Kristoffer Velde trimmed the lead to 2-1 in the 36th minute but the Timbers finished the match a man short after Jimer Fory received his second yellow card and match ejection in the 66th minute.
San Diego out-short Portland 14-5 and controlled 64 percent of possession with a 94 percent pass accuracy and 7-0 edge in cornerkicks.
