Rafael Navarro scores as Colorado finally shake the Timbers

COMMERCE CITY — On a night where there would be plenty of movers and shakers across MLS’ Western Conference standings, it was the Colorado Rapids’ Designated Player Rafael Navarro who managed to do both.

The Brazilian DP scored his 14th goal of the 2024 campaign in the 71st minute as Colorado (14-9-5, 47 points) topped the Portland Timbers 2-1 on Saturday night Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The win helped Colorado leapfrog its archrival Real Salt Lake into third place. It was the first win over the Timbers since April 2022. Colorado extended its home unbeaten streak to 12 games across all competitions.

Rapids head coach Chris Armas made just one change from the FC Dallas game, as Cole Bassett slotted back into the starting eleven for Oliver Larraz. The bench looked different as new signing Reggie Cannon was not available, while Omir Fernandez was a late scratch.

After a quick start by both sides, Jonathan Lewis opened the scoring in the 14th minute for Colorado. Cole Bassett found Rafael Navarro, whose pass was deflected directly into the path of Lewis. The 27-year-old struck a one-touch shot and buried it into the bottom right-hand corner to make it 1-0 and scored his third goal of the campaign.

It was the first time Colorado had led the Timbers (11-10-7, 40 points) in all competitions since April 2022. It did not last long.

Ten minutes later, Portland equalized through Argentinian midfielder David Ayala, who scored his first career MLS goal. After Colorado conceded its second of four first-half corner kicks, the Timbers made it count. Evander’s corner found the head of Juan Mosquera, who flicked it on to Ayala, who headed it home past Steffen to tie the score at 1-1.

It was a back-and-forth remainder of the first half. Colorado nearly took a 2-1 lead through the play of Djordje Mihailovic and Calvin Harris. In the 29th minute, Mihailovic was played in via a through ball, and his shot, aimed for the far post, was saved by the fingertips of Maxime Crépeau. The ball fell to Harris, who ran out of room as his attempted shot hit the side netting.

In the 44th minute, Antony had a chance to make it 2-1 but it somehow stayed out of the net. On a one-on-one situation, as Antony barreled down on goal, Steffen cut off the angle which forced him into a cross rather than a shot. Connor Ronan’s full-effort recovery run was rewarded as he deflected the Brazilian’s subsequent through ball attempt, which otherwise would have been a tap-in. The referee blew his whistle for halftime shortly thereafter as the teams went to the locker room knowing everything was still to play for.

Antony had numerous second-half chances but failed to capitalize on any of them, including one in the opening seconds of the half when he was played in on goal but his one-time effort went well wide and it deserved a better finish.

The game ebbed and flowed until the 65th minute when both teams started fouling one another. It was bound to happen. It was the third time these teams have faced off this season across all competitions.

Colorado’s second goal came after one such instance. Calvin Harris drew a hard foul after he attempted to squeeze past a pair of defenders. It prompted Mihailovic to stand over a dangerous free kick.

After asking the referee for the set-piece defender to step back 10 yards, which, was not awarded — the moment was enough of a distraction for Portland players to take their eyes off the upcoming set piece for a split second — the Chicagoland native was quick on his feet and whipped in a ball to an unmarked Navarro who thumped it into the bottom right-hand corner to make it 2-1.

“We always talk about how good we are on set pieces, and those will win you an extra 20 points on that alone,” Mihailovic said. “I’m just happy I was able to put it in the best spot possible and Rafa did the rest.”

After taking the lead, Chris Armas made substitutes as Colorado tried to see out the match, including bringing Darren Yapi on. Late in stoppage time, Yapi was shown a questionable red card for violent conduct as he had his hand in the back of Portland defender Dario Zuparic. The referee did not hesitate to show Yapi a straight red card, and despite going to VAR and appearing on replay that Zuparic embellished Yapi’s hand placement, the decision was upheld.

After the match, Lewis called the decision “an interesting one”, and hopes the league will step in to rescind the decision retroactively.

Fortunately, Colorado would not have to rue the moment as the full-time whistle blew moments later, and a crowd of 16,038 at DSGP went home happy.

Travis holds his own at left back

Photo credit: Mark Shaiken

Sam Vines will miss time with a nagging hamstring injury. Cannon is still being eased into the squad and life at altitude. That left the 20-year-old Mississippi native to step up. Going up against savvy attackers, Travis more than held his own and had some fire as he wasn’t afraid to slide into challenges, get upfield, or give up a tactical foul.

Armas knows he’s putting in the work.

“Two days ago in training, he tells me, ‘Yeah, coach, I’ve got clips’. He clipped his own clips from the Dallas game,” Armas recalled. “‘I’ve gotta show you this, I’ve gotta get better at this.’ For a young guy, he’s wanting to get better and is making his own clips. I said ‘Listen, you’ve gotta celebrate the good things. But can you stay on your feet here? Can you not foul here?’ We play young players, we trust young players.

“I thought he had a strong performance tonight stepping in at the end, winning tackles, aerial duals on the back line, starting the counterattack — fearless, fearless.”

Ronan’s unsung effort is spotlighted again

Armas called Ronan’s effort the best of the season so far as he, like Travis, also found himself dueling with Evander and Antony. The Irishman was key in putting out fires and helping sustain attacks. While he might not have the assists like last year, he’s dug in and has put in the work that has shown up time and time again this season. Saturday, Armas thought, was different.

“I think it was his best game of the year and there’s been some good ones, I’ll tell you,” Armas said. “He’s a guy where we’ve all grown to see how good he is at finding Djordje, playing vertical, controlling the ball at times, tempo, being an outlet. … But tonight, it was against the ball: the counter-pressing and recovery runs, the tackles. This, for me, was a complete performance from him.”

Per MLS Communications, with the win, Armas surpassed Fernando Clavijo for the most points won by a Rapids head coach in their first season with the club (Clavijo had 45 in 2005). Armas also tied Glenn Myernick for the most wins by a first-year Rapids head coach (Myernick had 14 victories in 1997).

Colorado will have just days to prepare for its next challenge as the Rapids will hit the road to play 12th-place Sporting Kansas City (7-14-7, 28 points) at 6:30 p.m. MT Wednesday at Children’s Mercy Park.