San Francisco recorded its third victory of the season over FC Edmonton on Saturday night in Canada. Here are three things we learned from the game:
PABLO DYEGO WAS A FORCE OFFENSIVELY FOR SAN FRANCISCO
Dyego was a handful for the Eddies from the opening kick. He often created havoc for the home side’s defense and put Edmonton under sustained attack down the left wing. His pressure on defender Shawn Nicklaw during a corner kick resulted in the Eddies’ own goal that put San Francisco up within the first ten minutes.
Dyego also had another well-struck shot on target in the 22nd minute.
The Deltas were able to weather Dyego’s almost month-long absence for the team because of injury. They look that much stronger with him healthy and back in the starting lineup heading into a crucial stretch of games.
FC EDMONTON HAS BEEN UNLUCKY AGAINST THE DELTAS
San Francisco will play Edmonton six times this season as they are their nearest geographic rival in the NASL. After three games the Deltas have claimed a full nine points from the Eddies. However, the Deltas margin of victory was razor-thin.
In their first matchup May 14th, Edmonton’s Jake Keegan missed a one-on-one opportunity with keeper Romuald Peiser. Then in the dying moments of the game, the Deltas Christian Portilla scored on a free kick that froze Edmonton’s keeper Chris Konopka and gave San Francisco the win.
On June 17th, Edmonton missed several golden opportunities to score early before the Deltas were awards a controversial penalty kick late in the first half to claim the victory.
Last Saturday the Deltas struck early and FC Edmonton’ Dean Shiels was unable to score on two golden opportunities to tie the match.
“We played three games against Edmonton, we won the three, but the three could’ve gone for either side,” Deltas coach Marc Dos Santos said in a postgame interview.
The Eddies still have a chance to exact revenge on San Francisco: the teams will play three more times in the Fall Season. However, the maximum points have allowed San Francisco to still dream about catching league-leading Miami FC in the standings.
SAN FRANCISCO STILL HAS AN OUTSIDE CHANCE TO CLAIM THE SPRING SEASON CROWN
Deltas head coach Marc Dos Santos has repeatedly stated that the team’s goal this season is to qualify for the NASL postseason. The general consensus among league pundits at the start of the season was Dos Santos had assembled a quality side, but few picked San Francisco to be in second place at this point of the campaign.
San Francisco has had the uncanny ability to get just enough offense and play strong defense to pull out victories. 4 of the Deltas 6 wins so far have been by one goal. The team is second to last only having scored 14 goals, but they have also only conceded 10 goals as well.
While San Francisco has started out well, they are currently the also-rans to the most dynamic team in the league, Miami FC. The league leaders have not lost a game since the third week of the season to the New York Cosmos. They are currently riding a 10 game unbeaten streak, including four wins in a row.
Miami is being paced by the dynamic striker Vincenzo Rennella who has been on a tear with eight goals and four assists this season.
The Deltas have an outside chance to claim the Spring Season title and an automatic birth into the NASL playoffs. They need to win next Sunday at home against Puerto Rico FC and hope that North Carolina FC can either draw or defeat Miami.
If that occurs, San Francisco and Miami will face off in a home and home series on July 8th and July 15th to decide the Spring Season title.
Even if the Deltas are unable to catch Miami for the Spring title, the ultimate goal is to finish in the top four team in the standings for the combined Spring and Fall campaigns. That would also earn them a berth in the playoffs.
It would be quite the achievement for the first year NASL side.
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IN OTHER NEWS:
NASL announced today it will add a team in San Diego for the 2018 season. The San Diego NASL ownership group is run by four global soccer stars: Demba Ba, Eden Hazard, Yohan Cabaye and Moussa Sow.
San Diego’s president will be local businessman Bob Watkins. It is the second California squad to be added to the NASL this season after Orange County was also announced last month.
“The NASL is thrilled to add San Diego to the league, and we’re just as excited to be doing so with such an accomplished group of professional players and businessmen,” said NASL Interim Commissioner Rishi Sehgal. “We’re confident that the success they have had on the pitch in their careers will contribute to the club’s success – on and off the pitch – in San Diego.”
The two California teams are good news for the San Francisco Deltas who will have two in-state rivals to play against next season.
The team tweeted this morning welcoming them into the league.
Welcome to the league @sandiegonasl! We’ll see you in 2018! #WestCoastFutbol https://t.co/gvnUtGg5jl
— San Francisco Deltas (@sfdeltas) June 26, 2017
Rumors continue to swirl that NASL may add additional teams for next season. According to the Midfield Press, an ownership group in Atlanta hopes to start to play in 2018. Telegraph reporter Bob Williams also tweeted out last week that several potential expansion groups presented proposals at the NASL Board of Governors meetings and future announcements were expected shortly.
