SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio FC and Monterey Bay FC shared the points as they played to a 0-0 draw at Toyota Field on Saturday night that saw Jorge Hernández hit the woodwork for the hosts with a late penalty after SAFC had been reduced to 10 players.
After a quiet first half, the game came to lift after the break as Monterey Bay threatened to take the lead in the 54th minute when Omari Glasgow flashed over the crossbar. San Antonio went closer seven minutes later when Akeem Ward picked up possession in the right channel and fired a shot that hit the inside of the left post but caromed away to safety, but the hosts were reduced to 10 players moments later when goalkeeper Joey Batrouni was sent off after bringing down Ilijah Paul just outside the penalty area.
Monterey Bay was unable to gain from its man advantage, however, and instead San Antonio was handed a chance to take the lead from the penalty spot when Sebastian Lletget was ruled to have handled a free kick by Mikey Maldonado while positioned at the end of a defensive wall. Hernández stepped up but rang the crossbar with his shot, keeping the game scoreless, leaving honors even and the points shared.
Takeaways
San Antonio FC – The hosts were unable to capitalize on the best chance of the night as Jorge Hernández’s penalty kick rang the crossbar, but the red cards to both goalkeeper Joey Batrouni and center back Mitchell Taintor – sent off for his second yellow deep in stoppage time after an altercation that also saw a pair of Monterey Bay players shown yellow – will be a situation to monitor. SAFC has now been held scoreless six times this campaign, and while it’s only lost twice, this felt like a missed opportunity.
Monterey Bay FC – Monterey Bay remained winless against San Antonio all-time, but took a third consecutive draw in the series after the sides had also finished scoreless early this season at Cardinale Stadium. MBFC didn’t offer much in attack – it certainly wasn’t the performance that offered what we were looking for in terms of progress under Head Coach Alex Covelo, which remains reserved for its home displays at present – but this could still prove a valuable road point.