San Diego FC and the Columbus Crew will face each other on Saturday evening at Snapdragon Stadium, with both teams hoping to remain undefeated.
SDFC put out a statement on Thursday that echoed the words and sentiments issued by its head coach, Mikey Varas, after the home opener with St.Louis City on March 1 concerning the homophobic chant made by some fans drawing national scrutiny.
“Prior to the chanting even starting, we’re being explicit and clear about our expectations and our position as a club,” said San Diego FC CEO Tom Penn. “We didn’t do that before the first match. So we’re very clear in terms of stating that, aquí no ‘ is our idea. We want everyone to bring their energy and their passion, but there is no place for the goal-kick chant that is so controversial and so divisive.”
As for the match, San Diego FC will be facing a three-time MLS Cup champion that is also one of a handful of teams to not suffer a defeat this MLS season and recently played on Tuesday versus LAFC in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The Crew are known to have a similar style of play to SDFC, which is possession-oriented and builds its attack from the back, along with being dangerous on set pieces.
Columbus finished in second place of the Eastern Conference standings last season with 72 points behind Inter Miami before being knocked out in the first round of the playoffs by the NY Red Bulls.
San Diego FC will be without forward Hirving Lozano for a second-straight week as the Mexican national team legend continues to deal with a hamstring injury he suffered early in the match against St. Louis. Lozano has been listed as week to week with teammate Anders Dreyer picking up the slack and leads the team in scoring with three goals, which ties him for second-place in the MLS behind Philadelphia Union striker Tai Baribo.