Kévin Cabral Red Card! Mateusz Bogusz Hat Trick. Rapids Play LAFC Straight up and Lose.

LOS ANGELES , Calif. – It was a hyped road game for Colorado Rapids off a nine point week. It turned into a sobering reminder that there’s still room for improvement. The Burgundy Boys went into BMO Stadium on Saturday night. They tried to play LAFC straight up. They finished down a man and a bunch of goals.

For the first time since May 15, Chris Armas left the lineup unchanged. Calvin Harris kept his spot at right wing. Conor Ronan was in the double pivot with Cole Basset. The no-longer loanee Rafael Navarro was up top.

For LAFC, their lineup did not have many surprises. For Rapids fans most significantly, former Pids striker Kei Kamara was up top for the Black and Gold.

LAFC were the better team to open the match. Colorado brought the energy and were aggressive. The fullbacks got upfield, leaving space in behind. The home side asked questions in transition.

Colorado lived dangerously and were finally punished in the 20th minute. Ilie Sánchez played Deni Bouanga in on goal. He beat Sam Vines to the ball and squared it to Mateusz Bogusz for a tap in. Keegan Rosenberry was most at fault in not challenging the goalscorer.

The Rapids responded after the goal. The pressing was good. Their passing was more direct and accurate. That led to set pieces. Djordje Mihailović had a free kick that went into the wall. At one point, they had five consecutive corners. Still, they had just one shot on goal in the first half. Kamara was excellent defensively in these moments, having been a talisman for Chris Sharpe’s set pieces when he was with Colorado.

Tempers flared at times in the first half with four yellow cards. Kévin Cabral and Navarro committed frustration fouls to get booked. Lalas Abubakar and Jesús Murillo got into it on a corner. Chris Penso booked both.

LAFC reestablished dominance to start the second half. They nearly scored in the opening minutes. The match returned to the back-and-forth tempo of an indoor game, favoring the home side. Bogusz made it 2-0 in the 58th minute, putting a loose ball between the legs of Abubakar.

Colorado nearly got one back off the kickoff. Rosenberry found Cabral for a header that he put wide on that play. Mihailović was denied by Hugo Loris. Then the game got away from them. Cabral pulled down Bogusz and was given a second yellow for a tactical foul. The Rapids were reduced to 10 men as Colorado was prepared to sub Cabral off.

Bogusz finished off his hat trick in the 72nd minute set up by Kamara. The match ended 3-0 with Armas subbing on the kids.

Playing into LAFC’s hands:

I can’t fault Chris Armas for the approach. Go there to play a defensive 4-4-2 and you invite LAFC to come at you and eventually score. They’ve struggled at times with the press. There were merits to how the team was set up. It just did not work.

The fullbacks were too risky in critical moments that led to goals. It allowed LAFC to play through lines (to the extent the center backs and Ronan are a line) and create chances. The match was like an indoor game that gets out of hand and is back-and-forth. That was to LAFC’s advantage.

“We played into their hands a little bit early on. That was certainly not the plan. We tried to play through it too much at times. We gained the momentum for the last 15-20 minutes of the first half,” Armas told Burgundy Wave.

“We pressed more in the second half. It became a little bit open. We wanted to see if we could change the rhythm. We get a red card. They get a goal. It was all uphill after that.”

Captain Rosenberry added, “A little naive from us to open play at times. Played into their hands at times. I thought we finished the half well.”

Kévin Cabral red card highlights composure and decisions to be made:

Colorado were frustrated with the way the evening went. That was highlighted by the two yellow cards from Cabral. First, he committed a reckless and unnecessary foul. Then there was the tactical foul in the attacking half when it was still 1-0. Frustration or lack of awareness, either way it was a bad night for Cabral.

There’s plenty of teachable moments from this game. Armas now has a decision to make given Cabral is suspended for the 4th of July and Mihailović is on yellow card watch. Do Calvin Harris and Omir Fernandez both start on the wing? Does Cole Bassett move up? Cabral cost his team in this game and made things more difficult for Thursday against Sporting KC.

“We have to learn. We’re a team that’s been disciplined. You can see that after, his (Cabral’s) head is down a bit. Of course it’s teachable. He’ll learn from it. We can all learn from that,” said Armas.

“We hold each other to a high standard. We expect things like that not to happen. We move on. We pick each other up,” said Rosenberry.

Colorado has been a very disciplined team in 2024. Even after this game, they have the third fewest yellow cards in the league with 29. Cabral’s sending off is the first red of the year for the club.

LAFC was the better team and that is ok:

“We’re happy that we can play to their level. We did that in moments. We didn’t bring our best stuff,” Armas said with mixed feelings.

The Rapids were in this game late in the first half and even in the 56th. If only Abubakar could have blocked that shot on the second goal. Or Cabral had not gotten a second yellow. They were not far off on all those first half set pieces. On another night, it’s 1-1 with a half hour to go.

Still, LAFC always looked like the better team. Just like the FC Cincinnati game, simple mistakes widened the gap between Colorado and the big money opponent. This team will definitely compete for the playoffs. They still have a ways to go when it comes to the top of MLS. Progress.

Also, Mike Edwards did alright subbing on in garbage time.

Photo Credit: Mark Shaiken

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