San Diego FC had nearly two full months to prepare for Major League Soccer’s restart.
Apparently, old habits die hard.
SDFC surrendered yet another backbreaking goal in the final minutes during the first game back, continuing one of the second-year club’s most troubling trends. Loïc Williams bounced a shot into the bottom-left corner of the goal in stoppage time, and the host Colorado Rapids beat SDFC 1-0 on Wednesday in a game that started late because of a weather delay and ended with some scoring lightning.
Williams’ first-ever MLS goal — he was acquired by Colorado (6-9-1) from Granada CF of La Liga in late May — buried SDFC (4-7-5) on a night in which the visitors appeared rusty. The Rapids outshot SDFC 9-7 and completed more passes (470) than the possession-minded San Diegans (444).
Still, things were scoreless before Williams blasted a late cross past CJ dos Santos to hand SDFC another late defeat.
Saturday marked SDFC’s fourth one-goal loss since the start of April. The team has allowed seven goals from the 80th minute on so far this season. Williams’ strike was the fourth allowed by SDFC in injury time this season.
Dos Santos, recently returned from his stint as Cape Verde’s backup goalie in the World Cup, made just his third MLS start since May 1. The goalkeeper made one save on a night when the analytics said SDFC should have won — the team’s expected goals were 0.9, slightly greater than the Rapids’ 0.8.
San Diego returns home Saturday to face FC Dallas at Snapdragon Stadium. The match starts at 6:30 p.m.