¡Solo Golazos! Darren Yapi Goal Sinks Tolca! Pids to the Quarterfinals!

COMMERCE CITY – This Colorado Rapids team couldn’t hear a bell if they were in the tower of Big Ben. On Tuesday night, the Burgundy Boys had a third straight game at DICK’s Sporting Goods Park against a Liga MX opponent in Leagues Cup. Once against, it was a thrilling game decided in the final minutes.

Chris Armas made just one change from the FC Juárez game the previous Friday. Oliver Larraz was in for Connor Ronan in the double pivot with Cole Bassett. Moïse Bombito was not in the squad as his transfer to OGC Nice was immanent. Former New York Red Bull Frankie Amaya was starting as a No. 6 for Toluca.

The first half was all Toluca till the end. Jesús Ángulo hit the crossbar in the 7th minute from just outside the box. Steffen didn’t get a touch to it but was able to collect the rebound on a shot by striker Paulinho. Marcel Ruiz had a great look in transition in the 16th off a turnover by Sam Vines.

Paulinho hit the post in the 34th in transition with Steffen diving to the nearside but just missing it.

Colorado had two good attacking sequences in the half. In the 33rd, Andreas Maxsø nearly got to a cross on a free kick but it went just past him. On the ensuing corner, the ball got flicked on to Calvin Harris who missed from a yard out. He was offside in any case.

Just before halftime, Bassett played a great ball to Sam Vines who made a run. The left back, who’d had a tough half, put the ball on a platter for Rafael Navarro to tap in. The half ended 1-0 to the Rapids. It was Navarro’s third goal contribution in four Leagues Cup games.

Colorado had a balanced start to the second half. They were tougher to break down but less threatening going forward. Vines was still a weak point defensively. Lalas Abubakar made several big last-ditch defensive plays. Juan Pablo Domínguez had an open header in the box after a double sub that saw Alexis Vega and Jesus Gallardo come on in the 60th.

Minutes later, Navarro took a heavy touch on a breakaway. It was a perfectly weighted ball from Djordje Mihailović and could have been a goal. Toluca started to run out of gas in the final 25 minutes despite the crowd chanting “Diablos” referring to their Red Devils nickname. Mihailović nearly set up another tap in in the 80th in transition, but could not get the ball to a sprinting Omir Fernandez.

Like all these Leagues Cups games for Colorado, it came down to moments. Toluca had an open counter attack in the 83rd out of nowhere. Gallardo chased down a through ball and found Paulinho with his back to goal. The Brazilian delivered a great back heel to beat Steffen to make it 1-1. VAR delayed the kickoff as Gallardo was potentially offside but the goal stood.

Colorado looked to respond in the first minute of stoppage time. Sub Connor Ronan found space and sent a ball in to Mihailović in the box. He headed it off the grass and into the top corner. The Rapids had appeared to have a stunning smash a grab. VAR however intervened and found that Ronan was offside.

This game seemed destined for penalties. It almost felt like the Rapids had lost the game. But Darren Yapi didn’t hear no bell. Kimani Stewart-Baynes threaded a pass to Mihailović who still had time to cook. The Olympian put the ball into the six. Center back Luan went to ground to try and intercept it. He ended up playing the ball past goalkeeper Tiago Volpi. The ball was looking to be an own goal until Yapi crashed the goal line and got it over the line. The match ended 2-1 to the Burgundy Boys.

Zack Steffen has arrived!

Toluca had 21 shots, six on goal, and 2.6 expected goals. Third straight game in which a Mexican team has done what they wanted offensively against the Rapids. Steffen’s made at least two big saves in each of those games. This is the closest Zack has been to his form in 2018 when he won Goalkeeper of the Year with Columbus Crew.

“He’s been doing really well. He’s a top keeper. We are happy that he’s here. Hopefully he can keep going,” Andreas Maxsø said of the guy behind him.

“I’m feeling good. I’m playing and having fun. Trying to keep the mind calm. four goals (conceded) in three matches isn’t great. We’re getting better when we get scored on. Can’t get too high or too low,” Steffen said.

This team still hasn’t kept a clean sheet in 11 games. There’s still work to do. But Steffen is doing his job and more.

The emotional roller coaster of VAR! Darren Yapi goal!

Mihailović put it best: “A life’s worth of emotions. We went into the second half with the mindset of being as compact as possible. Once they scored, they stopped pressing us. It’s a battle of field position.” He added, “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen Connor offsides. That’s unfortunate. When they called it offsides, I was laughing cause I knew we were going to get the second one. I love the hustle from Yapi even though it was always going in. This game was won by mentality.”

Yapi admitted it was all reaction on the goal. No concern about it being called off. He just wanted to put it in the net.

“We have our principals. We keep doing what we do and it gets us the results. Defensively we were very organized. We always find ways to score goals.”

The team’s approach to this adversity has come from the coaching staff and veteran leaders on the field.

“Everyone is calm. Also the coaches. There’s no stress. Even when we concede late, we keep going. We also scored one goal extra (the offside goal). Even when we concede in the first half, we keep going. That’s what we need to do to be a top team,” Maxsø told Burgundy Wave.

This team keeps proving it in big moments:

Navarro’s goal. Vines with the assist despite being pretty poor defensively. Steffen with four big saves. Big blocks from pretty much every defensive player. And then of all people to win it after the emotional rush of having a goal VAR-ed off, Darren Yapi!?

“He’s (Yapi) had a couple of big goals this year. Our team responds. We got pushed to the limit in every way. They stick to it. They responded in the big moments. The high performance teams, what makes them good is the ability to stick together in tough moments. I got to see it up close. I love that the boys found a way on a tough night against a really good team,” Armas said with pride.

The Rapids head to LA to play Club America at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday Night. America are one of if not the best team in Mexico. This is a huge game and a quarterfinal. The Rapids have earned the right to play in these games. They’re increasingly earning the right to be confident in them.

Photo Credit: Mark Shaiken

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