San Diego FC and FC Cincinnati Battle to Thrilling 3-3 Draw

Host San Diego FC’s Marcus Ingvartsen and FC Cincinnati’s Tom Barlow both scored twice, and a helter-skelter finish culminated in a 3-3 draw Saturday night.

Saturday night marked the clubs’ first-ever meeting, and it did not disappoint.

Ingvartsen gave San Diego a 3-2 lead in the sixth minute of stoppage time, and a raucous crowd could sense a second straight win. But on Cincinnati’s final push, Barlow connected on a right-footed shot from the center of the box to tie the match, ensuring Cincinnati would fly back across the country with a point in the standings.

It didn’t take long for FC Cincinnati (4-5-5, 17 points) to draw first blood. In the 11th minute, Evander threaded a pass right through San Diego’s defensive back line, which found Kenji Mboma, who did the rest by connecting on a wide-open left-footed shot from the center of the box.

San Diego FC (4-5-5, 17 points) responded 21 minutes later when Ingvartsen booted in a left-footed shot into the lower-left corner of the net for his 11th goal of the season.

Evander earned a corner kick in the 50th minute after having a free kick deflected over the net, and he took advantage by hooking the ball into Barlow, who booted in a goal in traffic to give Cincinnati a 2-1 lead.

But just like they couldn’t do in the first half, FC Cincinnati couldn’t hold the lead. Sixteen minutes later, San Diego FC’s Amahl Pellegrino found himself 1-on-1 outside the box with Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano. Pellegrino rifled a right-footed shot past a diving Celentano to tie the game 2-2.

Celentano made two saves, while San Diego goalkeeper Duran Ferree had three saves.

Both teams played fast and aggressive throughout the night. There were a combined four yellow cards and 17 fouls. San Diego made 718 total passes and held possession for 58.6% of the time. It outshot Cincinnati 17-8, but Cincinnati had six shots on goal to San Diego’s five.