Forwards Marcus Ingvartsen and Anders Dreyer scored for SDFC; SDFC continues on the road when they travel to face Houston Dynamo on Wednesday, April 22
SANDY, Utah (Saturday, April 18, 2026) – San Diego FC (SDFC) played to a 4-2 loss against Real Salt Lake at America First Field, suffering its third-straight loss in MLS Regular Season play.
Real Salt Lake took control early, scoring four first-half goals to build a 2-0 lead within six minutes. Sergi Solans recorded a brace, while Diego Luna and Morgan Gulavogui also found the net. Forward Marcus Ingvartsen pulled one back for SDFC in the 14th minute to make it 2-1, but RSL carried a 4-1 lead into halftime. Anders Dreyer added SDFC’s second goal in the 66th minute.
SDFC will continue its two-game road match stint as it travels to face the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday, April 22 at Shell Energy Stadium. It will then return to Snapdragon Stadium to host the Portland Timbers on Saturday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m. PT for its third MLS match in seven days.
Goal Scoring Plays:
RSL – 1-0 – Diego Luna, 5th minute: Luna opened the scoring after intercepting an attempted pass by SDFC goalkeeper Duran Ferree inside his own penalty box.
RSL – 2-0 –Sergi Solans (Diego Luna) 6th Minute: Solans headed in a cross by Luna to extend the lead for Real Salt Lake. Solans beat his mark to the left post where Luna sent a pin-point cross from right to left. Ferree got a leg on the shot, but it wasn’t enough to stop Solan’s header.
SD – 2-1- Marcus Ingvartsen, 14th Minute: Ingvartsen flicked a left-footed shot past Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Rafael Cabral from near the six-yard box. Ingvartsen took a deflected pass off a cross from Morgan from left to right on a breakaway and sent in his goal to cut the home team’s lead.
RSL – 3-1- Sergi Solans (Zavier Gozo and DeAndre Yedlin), 37th Minute: Solans added his second goal of the night to extend the Real Salt Lake lead. He headed a shot in from near the heart of the box in between two defenders off a cross by Gozo.
RSL – 4-1- Morgan Gulavogui (Sergi Solans and DeAndre Yedlin), 45’: Gulavogui scored the fourth of the night for the home team with a right-footed shot to the left of Duran Ferree off a quick backwards tap by Solans.
SD – 4-2- Anders Dreyer (Penalty Kick) 66th minute: Dreyer converted a penalty kick, sending a left-footed shot to the left of Rafael Cabral to cut the Real Salt Lake lead.
Postgame Notes:
- With tonight’s 4-2 loss against Real Salt Lake, SDFC suffered its third straight defeat in the 2026 MLS Regular Season.
- SDFC now has a 3-3-2 record with 11 points.
- Despite tonight’s result, SDFC has outscored opponents 15-14 through its first seven matches of the regular season.
- SDFC is 19-10-6 all-time against Western Conference teams in MLS regular season play.
- SDFC now holds a 22-12-8 all-time MLS Regular Season record.
- SDFC is now 1-2-1 all-time against Real Salt Lake.
- SDFC is 1-2-1 on the road this MLS Regular Season.
- SDFC completed 583 passes compared to Real Salt Lake’s 529 tonight.
- SDFC now has 102 goals across all competitions (MLS, Leagues Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup).
- SDFC is now 5-5-2 across all competitions in 2026 (MLS Regular Season 3-3-2, Concacaf Champions Cup 2-2).
- SDFC has outscored opponents 23-21 across all competitions in 2026 (16-14 in MLS).
- SDFC has now gone five straight MLS matches without a win.
- SDFC’s current win-less streak marks the first time in Club history that it has gone five MLS Regular Season matches without a win (Last MLS win came March 7 vs. Sporting Kansas City).
- SDFC has now gone without a win in its last six matches across all competitions. Its last win came against Deportivo Toluca F.C. (March 11) in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
- Forward Marcus Ingvartsen scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season. He now has seven goal contributions (5 goals, 2 assists) in the 2026 MLS Regular Season.
- Ingvartsen now has 10 goal contributions with SDFC across all competitions
- Morgan also made his third MLS start for SDFC tonight. He also made his fifth MLS appearance with the Club.
- Ingvartsen scored SDFC’s 101st goal in Club history tonight.
- Winger Anders Dreyer scored his fourth goal of the season. It was also his 23rd career MLS Regular Season goal and his 28th with SDFC across all competitions.
- Dreyer now has 55 goal contributions for the Club (28 goals, 27 assists). His goal was SDFC’s 102nd in Club History.
- Onni Valakari and Dreyer are the only players to play in all 42 of SDFC’s regular season and five post-season matches for a total of 47 MLS career appearances each.
- Goalkeeper Duran Ferree made his seventh MLS start tonight.
- Newcomer Osvald Søe made his third career MLS start and his third with SDFC. He also made his fifth consecutive MLS Regular Season appearance. He has played in SDFC’s last seven matches, including two consecutive appearances in the CCC.
- 18-year-old forward Bryan Zamblé made his fifth appearance with SDFC, coming on as a substitute for Marcus Ingvartsen in the 66th minute. He made his first-ever MLS start last week against Minnesota United FC.
- Bryce Duke made his first SDFC start at left back tonight. He also made his third appearance for SDFC in MLS and his fourth appearance across all competitions.
- Midfielder Aníbal Godoy made his 245th MLS Regular Season appearance tonight (212 starts).
- Defender Christopher McVey missed tonight’s match, while serving a red card suspension.
- Defender Manu Duah returned to the starting lineup after missing the last match against Minnesota United while serving a red card suspension.
- Forward Amahl Pellegrino returned to action tonight, coming on as a substitute for Lewis Morgan in the 84th minute after missing the previous two matches due to injury.
Match Information
2026 MLS Regular Season
San Diego FC vs. Real Salt Lake
Saturday, April 18, 2026 – America First Field (Sandy, Utah)
Scoring Summary:
RSL (1-0) – Diego Luna, 5’
RSL (2-0) - Sergi Solans (Assisted by Diego Luna), 6’
SD (2-1) - Marcus Ingvartsen, 14’
RSL (3-1) - Sergi Solans (Assisted by Zavier Gozo and DeAndre Yedlin), 37’
RSL (4-1) - Morgan Gulavogui (Assisted by Sergi Solans and Diego Luna), 45’
SD (4-2) - Anders Dreyer (Penalty kick) 66’
Misconduct Summary:
SD– Bryce Duke (caution, 45+5)
RSL - Morgan Guilavogu (caution, 51’)
Lineups:
SAN DIEGO FC: GK Duran Ferree; D Osvald Søe, D Oscar Verhoeven, D Manu Duah, D Bryce Duke (Alex Mighten,, 46’); M Onni Valakari (David Vazquez, 66’), M Jeppe Tverskov –C–, M Aníbal Godoy (Pedro Soma, 46’),; F Anders Dreyer, F Marcus Ingvartsen (Bryan Zamblé, 66’), F Lewis Morgan (Amahl Pellegrino, 85’).
Substitutes Not Used: GK CJ Dos Santos, F Anisse Saidi, F Emmanuel Boateng,
TOTAL SHOTS: 15; SHOTS ON GOAL: 5; FOULS: 13; OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 8; SAVES; 5
REAL SALT LAKE: GK Rafael Cabral, D Justen Glad, D DeAndre Yedlin (San Junqua, 70’), D Zavier Gozo, D Alexandros Katranis, D Lukas Engel; M Diego Luna (Aiden Hezarkhani 70’), M Noel Caliskan, M Stijn Spierings (Griffin Dillon, 77’), M Morgan Gulavogui (Zach Booth, 82’), F Sergi Solans (Victor Olatunji, 77’)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Mason Stajduhar, M Pablo Ruiz, M Dominik Marzuk
TOTAL SHOTS: 9; SHOTS ON GOAL: 9; FOULS: 11; OFFSIDES 2; CORNER KICKS: 1; SAVES: 3
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Assistant Referees: Corey Parker, Zachary McWhorter
Fourth Official: Thomas Snyder
VAR: Michael Radchuk
AVAR: Tom Felice
Weather: 56-degrees, Partly Cloudy
Attendance: 20,852
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
SDFC HEAD COACH MIKEY VARAS
Opening Statement:
“I think we started really, really tight. It felt that we were trying not to make mistakes. And obviously, when that happens here, you know, they punished us, and it was hard to get a footing in the game. But I give the guys a lot of credit. I think adjustments in the second half that they made and they we won the second half. So, that's a step for me, but at the end of the day, we're all honest. We know that we're not playing our best. We're also going through a very tough time with certain things not going our ways. You know, only having three defenders on the roster tonight, but at the end of the day, we know we can play better, and that's what we're working towards. We're working towards getting to our best, and that's completely 100-percent my responsibility, and I take that seriously.”
On facing one-on-one pressure and coming out of tough moments:
“Yeah, I mean, the one-v-one complicates you, because if you're not at your best on the ball at the moment, then you can create some pretty big turnaround transitions for them, and then also it's hard to solve that puzzle and create the big chances that you want to create against them. But the most important thing is that we keep insisting on who we are, because this is a long season, and at the end of the day, we have the full confidence that we're going to come out of this. And this is where you test who you are as a person. And my job is to steer us through this moment and make sure that we come out of it on the other side.”
On Jeppe Tverskov having to drop back and defend then having to start the attack from there:
“I'm asking a lot from him, because, you know, I want him higher up the pitch when we are trying to score against a little block, putting him on the back line because we needed some more stability with the fact that, you know, we don't have all natural defenders on the back line right now, and he's a consummate professional and team guy, and he's just willing to do whatever it takes. And I think he was really important, especially in the second half, in terms of helping us find some stability in the game and being able to score a goal and create some important chances.”
SDFC FORWARD MARCUS INGVARTSEN
Opening Statement:
“Yeah, tough. One tough start. Not good enough. Too many things in the game where we struggle and don't find ourselves. Yeah, we are struggling a little bit at the moment, and we have to figure out how to get out of this and get back to our normal style.”
On struggling with the basic things:
“Yeah. Normally, I think it's something that fits our style very well. Unfortunately, we are at a moment where the basic stuff, the simple passes, and the cleanness in our game is not there. We are making too many mistakes, too many easy giveaways, and that makes us come into pressure. I think, I think normally a high team that goes in high pressure to one on one, pressing is something that I know we normally would be really good to handle. We also did earlier in the first couple of games this season. So, it's about breaking that first pressure. But at this moment, we are struggling in the basic stuff, and that's hurting us a bit.”
On some positive things that can be taken from this result:
“Yeah, we of course, have had some good moments also, and today, in the second half, we also, we step up a bit. So, there are, of course, some positive, positive things. But all in all, it's been a couple of games where we haven't looked ourselves, and I think it's important for us to really come together. Now we have a game in a few days again, which is nice at this time. So, we are on the road, we can spend some time together the next couple of days and we need to get that solved.”
On facing Houston midweek:
“I think we're lucky to play in a few days again, not to go a full week thinking too much and so on. I think we have shown earlier this season. So, it's only a couple of games ago that we've been playing amazing football. We see it in training. We know we can do it. We have to get that belief back and come back to our normal style, I would say. We have the quality within the team. We just at this moment, need to get our heads up and also start believing in it. So that's, that's the feeling I have right now going into the game on Wednesday. So, we will, we will be there for sure.”
