Another Missed Opportunity for Colorado Rapids

On a night when William Yarbrough did everything in his power to give the Rapids a fighting chance, Diego Rubio was unable to secure the victory for Colorado. 

Saturday night’s 0-0 draw at BC Place saw the Colorado Rapids extend their unbeaten run to seven matches. Robin Fraser made just two changes to the team that drew St. Louis City 1-1 last weekend, with Sam Nicholson and Michael Barrios replacing Bryan Acosta and Kevin Cabral. 

Early proceedings went Vancouver’s way, as the Rapids were slow to start in the opening fifteen minutes.

Robin Fraser’s side would soon find their footing, however, and should’ve taken the lead in the 16th minute. Keegan Rosenberry found himself in some space right inside the penalty area and fired a low drive that goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka was forced to parry. The rebound then fell to Max with an open net, but his shot was denied by a last-ditch tackle from Vancouver’s Tristan Blackmon.

The Whitecaps immediately responded with Brian White, hitting a powerful strike that William Yarbrough was able to tip onto the crossbar. The remainder of the first half brought no further excitement, as neither team was able to unsettle the other.

Winger Jonathan Lewis came on for Sam Nicholson at the break, as Fraser looked to add more of an attacking spark up top. Steven Beitashour then became yet another injury concern for the Rapids, as the veteran full back was replaced by Anthony Markanich following a hamstring injury. 

When play resumed for the second half, the Whitecaps were once again quicker out the gate, with Javain Brown firing his first attempt straight at Yarbrough and later missing a header from point blank range. 

Colorado thought they had broken the deadlock when Andreas Maxsö headed in a free kick in the 56th minute, but Lalas Abubakar was deemed to have interfered with Takaoka during the play, leading to the goal being ruled out.

Yarbrough was then called into action yet again as he pulled off a trio of miraculous saves in the span of seven minutes, including a sprawling denial on a shot from inside the six by White.

In the 77th minute, Jonathan Lewis was able to skip by Javain Brown with a quick step over before Brown dragged him down inside the box, and the Rapids got their first penalty of 2023. It was not to be their first penalty goal of 2023, however, thanks to Takaoka spotting where Diego Rubio intended to place his shot. The Japanese goalkeeper got down to his left hand side to save a rather tame penalty from the Rapids’ star striker.

Rapids fans must’ve been keen to see their new man Danny Levya in action, and they got a glimpse of the 19 year old when he replaced Rubio in the 89th minute.

Chances were few and far between for the rest of the match, the final whistle sounded, and both teams were left wondering how they hadn’t won. 

Although a point on the road is always a solid result, Colorado and Robin Fraser felt that there was more to be had. “At the end, a tie on the road is not the worst thing, but we’re disappointed because we thought we did enough to win the game,” Fraser stated in his post game presser. 

Possession is key:

The Rapids were out possessed by Vancouver and only managed seven shots to their 21. Clearly, that’s not the identity that Fraser demands from his team. “I thought we could’ve had more sustained possession, we could’ve made them defend a little bit more, which I think would have created more opportunities for us…we could’ve made some better decisions with the ball and I think that would’ve resulted in the game looking and feeling a little bit different,” Fraser told Burgundy Wave. 

Yarbrough reaches milestone:

William Yarbrough is now the all-time clean sheets leader in Colorado Rapids history with 30, surpassing MLS Cup winner Matt Pickens. Defense is a team game however, and Yarbrough was quick to deflect praise on to his teammates.  

“You have to give credit to every player that plays for those clean sheets. It’s credit to the players who aren’t here and contributed to those clean sheets, to the players who are here now. And like you saw today, I mean, guys diving headfirst into balls, tackles, 50/50 balls, winning them, and you guys have to give credit to the entire team and also the players who contributed to these clean sheets who aren’t here anymore, because it’s a team effort. A clean sheet is 100 percent a team effort,” Yarbrough told Burgundy Wave. 

The week ahead:

The Rapids are now up to nine points on the year, but remain in 12th place in the Western Conference. Up next for Colorado Rapids is a massive road fixture against a team also struggling for wins, the Los Angeles Galaxy. The match will be played at Dignity Health Sports Park on May 6th at 8:30 PM MDT.

Photo Credit: John Babiak.