Anders Dreyer Strikes, Pablo Sisniega Shuts the Door as San Diego FC Beat St. Louis CITY SC 1-0

Anders Dreyer has now played St. Louis CITY SC twice this season and scored both times. The second one hurt a lot more.

Dreyer finished a 39th-minute counterattack with a left-footed strike from outside the box, Pablo Sisniega made six saves, and San Diego FC beat St. Louis 1-0 on Saturday afternoon at Energizer Park. San Diego, a team that had not won in ten league matches, walked into the home of the West's third-place side and left with three points and a season sweep. St. Louis, in its final regular-season home game, dropped a fourth straight league match.

Counterpunch, Then a Wall

The opening half hour was a back-and-forth affair without much bite. Marcus Ingvartsen headed just wide for San Diego in the fifth minute, Conrad Wallem missed from distance for St. Louis in the ninth, and Dante Polvara put a header from a corner wide in the 26th. Rafael Navarro, meanwhile, spent a good chunk of the half drifting offside; he was flagged four times before he was subbed off.

The first save of the game came right before the goal. In the 37th minute, Chris Durkin slipped Tomas Totland through and Totland's shot from the left side of the six-yard box was pushed away by Sisniega. Two minutes later, San Diego broke the other way. Alejandro Alvarado threaded a through ball on the break, and Dreyer, from outside the area, drove a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner past Ben Lundt. San Diego led 1-0 at the half.

St. Louis spent the second half throwing everything at the Sisniega problem. Carlo Holse forced a save in the 58th minute, Totland had two more efforts stopped in the 71st and 78th, and the home side emptied the bench: Tomás Ostrák, Simon Becher and Fallou Fall arrived in the 63rd minute, with Damion Downs and Riley Lynch following in the 79th. Ostrák tested Sisniega from range in the 83rd, and Downs did the same in the 88th. Nothing got through.

San Diego nearly doubled the lead twice. Ingvartsen's shot in the 68th minute narrowly missed the top right corner, and Lundt had to save from him from outside the box in the 90th. San Diego had six attempts blocked, but it only needed the one that went in.

Dreyer and Sisniega Carry the Day

Dreyer led all players with four shots and finished the only one that counted. Add his third-minute opener in San Diego's 2-0 win over St. Louis at Snapdragon Stadium on March 1, and Dreyer has turned this fixture into a personal hobby: two meetings, two Dreyer goals, two San Diego wins.

Alvarado was the other half of the goal, threading the pass that broke St. Louis open, and he later picked up a yellow card in the 56th minute.

Sisniega, though, was the man of the afternoon. Six saves, including three on Totland, and San Diego's first clean sheet since a 3-0 win over Colorado on Aug. 22. St. Louis put seven shots on target and could not solve him.

For the hosts, Totland was the most dangerous player on the field with three shots, all of them on target. Wallem also had three attempts and drew five fouls. And there was a small bright spot in defeat: according to the club, Lynch made his MLS debut off the bench.

Two Minutes That Flipped It

This one swung on a two-minute sequence late in the first half. St. Louis carved out its best chance yet through Totland, Sisniega pushed it away, and San Diego immediately went the length of the field and scored. Instead of 1-0 St. Louis, it was 1-0 San Diego, and the visitors spent the next 50-plus minutes defending a lead with a goalkeeper in the mood to defend it for them.

There was also a late flashpoint that summed up the home side's frustration. In the 87th minute, Holse went down, the referee ruled it simulation, and Holse was booked.

St. Louis Shot, Sisniega Stopped

• Shots: St. Louis 16, San Diego 13. On target: St. Louis 7, San Diego 2.
• Saves: Pablo Sisniega 6, Ben Lundt 1.
• Possession: Dead even, 50.3 percent for San Diego to 49.7 for St. Louis.
• Blocked shots: Six of San Diego's 13 attempts were blocked.
• Offsides: St. Louis was caught four times, all of them Navarro.

A Sweep for San Diego, a Slide for St. Louis

San Diego improved to 9-11-13 with 38 points. The win was its first since a 3-1 victory over the LA Galaxy on Aug. 29, snapping a 10-match winless run in league play that included five draws and two 4-1 defeats, at Red Bull New York and Vancouver. It does not change much in the table, where San Diego sat 12th in the West in the standings ESPN showed after the match, but it is a far better way to approach the final week than another loss.

St. Louis fell to 14-9-10 with 51 points, still third in the West in that same table, but its cushion is gone. Houston also has 51 points with a game in hand, and the Dynamo play at Portland on Sunday, Nov. 1. St. Louis then travels to Shell Energy Stadium to face Houston on Decision Day, Nov. 7, with kickoff set for 6 p.m. CT, per the club. Four straight league losses, including two at home this week, is not the vibe anyone wants heading into a head-to-head fight for third place.

Spooky Season Indeed

St. Louis went from a three-match winning streak between Sept. 19 and Oct. 11, then a scoreless draw with Vancouver, to four straight defeats, and the last one came on Halloween in front of its own fans in the home finale. That is a proper horror arc. The good news for CITY SC is that the sequel starts in Houston next week and the script is not written yet. The bad news is that Sisniega, Dreyer and San Diego just showed the rest of the West how to beat them.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Club notes as reported by St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com); Houston schedule note from Houston Dynamo FC (houstondynamofc.com).