David Vazquez scored his first and second career MLS goals and added an assist as San Diego FC romped to a much-needed 5-0 victory over visiting Austin FC on Wednesday night.
Marcus Ingvartsen scored his team-leading ninth goal and had two assists, and Anders Dreyer and Pedro Soma each added a goal and an assist for San Diego (4-5-4, 16 points).
That was more than enough to snap a nine-match MLS winless run in the first of three consecutive home games to lead into the World Cup break. It also completed the club’s highest-scoring performance since a 5-0 home win over CF Montreal to open the regular season on Feb. 21.
Duran Ferree made three saves for his and San Diego’s fourth clean sheet while handing Austin only its second shutout of the season.
The Verde (3-5-5, 14 points) previously played to a 0-0 home draw against LAFC on March 21.
San Diego jumped out to a 2-0 lead quickly on Wednesday.
In the eighth minute, Vazquez finished off an excellent move that began when Luca Bombino played an angled pass in from the right.
Onni Valakari let the ball roll past him to Ingvartsen and made a run into the box. Ingvartsen played a first-touch pass back to Valakari, who then sent a low cross through the box that Vazquez redirected over the line before an Austin defender could clear it.
Dreyer made it 2-0 in the 17th minute following more combination play between Ingvartsen and Soma, who played the final throughball into the penalty area.
Dreyer raced behind the back line to reach it, cut back onto his left foot as several defenders ran past him, then curled his shot low inside the far post for his sixth goal of the season.
Soma scored on a long-range strike off the inside of the right post in the 54th minute, and then Ingvartsen finished off a cross following an excellent sequence involving Vazquez and Bombino in the 79th.
Vazquez completed his brace in the first minute of second-half stoppage time in the 20-year-old’s 17th career MLS appearance and ninth start.
–Field Level Media
