Onni Valakari and Elias Achouri scored first-half goals and Gabriel Pirani added a second-half tally as San Diego FC cruised to a 3-0 victory over the visiting Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.
Goalkeeper CJ dos Santos made two saves and turned in his fourth clean sheet of the season for San Diego (7-8-6, 27 points).
Colorado (9-11-1, 28 points) goalkeeper Nico Hansen had one save as the Rapids had their three-match winning streak snapped.
An opportunistic strike by Valakari gave San Diego a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute.
As the Rapids attempted to play out of the back, defender Reggie Cannon sent a pass across the box to Colorado teammate Rob Holding, who tried to flick the ball back to Hansen. Holding couldn’t connect, allowing Valakari to sprint in and drive a shot past Hansen.
San Diego doubled its lead in the 35th minute. Achouri headed a lofted pass into the box that Holding failed to control, then Achouri collected the loose ball and scored from the center of the box.
Pirani tacked on a goal in the 71st minute off an assist from Marcus Ingvartsen as San Diego continued to pressure the Rapids’ backline.
It was the first time San Diego had scored three goals since a 3-3 home draw against FC Cincinnati on May 16.
Moments after Valakari’s goal, Luca Bombino made a wide run into the box and forced Hansen into a sprawling save. The ball popped loose as the two got tangled up, but Hansen quickly recovered and secured it.
Colorado’s Paxten Aaronson took a shot from outside the box that sailed wide right in the third minute of first-half stoppage time. In the 56th minute, Aaronson took a pass off a quick restart into the box, but dos Santos made the save.
–Field Level Media
