Colorado Rapids BMO Stadium Woes Continue. Pids Lose in Conca Champions.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – It felt like this one could have been different. But it was the same result. The Colorado Rapids BMO Stadium woes continued on Wednesday night as the Burgundy Boys played LAFC in the second leg of the first round of Conca Champions.

Chris Armas had his lineup unchanged from Saturday. Keegan Roseberry and Reggie Cannon were on the bench. R2’s Anderson Rosa made the bench. Cole Bassett was in a wide role with Josh Atencio and Oli Larraz in the double pivot in the 4-2-3-1.

LAFC’s lineup was unsurprising. Notably, Denis Bouanga and Olivier Giroud were in the attack.

The first half was very similar to the first half of the first leg. Both teams had some good passing sequences but lacked the final ball. Colorado were in a 4-4-2 defensively and a 4-3-3 in attack. Bassett went forward, mostly on the left flank, exchanging with Rosenberry. It helped jumpstart attacks.

Colorado’s best chance of the half came in the 19th minute. Chido Awaziem made a great slide tackle to win the ball in the defensive box. Colorado played forward. Bassett and Rafael Navarro combined to play Navarro through on goal. He shot wide of the post while be challenged by a defender. Rapids teammates shouted for a PK but nothing was called.

LAFC took 30 minutes to start clicking offensively. In the 34th, Bouanga dribbled forward and found David Martínez who took on Rosenberry but shot right at goalkeeper Zack Steffen. They had a flurry in the final minutes. Ian Murphy had to clear a loose ball. Cannon intercepted a squared pass that could have lead to a tap in. The half ended 0-0.

And just like the first leg, the attack woke up early in the second half. LAFC made it 1-0 in the 49th through Mark Delgado, who opened his LAFC account. Martínez got space on the wing and sent a low ball into the mixer. Delgado got a touch to it, and it snuck past Steffen, who got a piece of it.

Colorado took a bit to respond to the goal. They had a great chance in the 69th. A long throw was directed in front of goal with Bassett on the doorstep. He couldn’t line up the ball for a tap in and the ball was cleared.

Substitutes Nathan Ordaz and Jeremy Ebobisse nearly ended the game in the 74th. They got forward with the Rapids caught up field. Ebobise found Ordaz for a tap in but the play was called offsides. There was no VAR.

Armas made a bunch of stubs, but it was to no avail. A four minute stoppage in the 85th saw the referee have an extended conversation with Awaziem claiming to the referee that an LAFC player said a derogatory word to him. The stoppage halted whatever momentum Colorado had.

The match ended 1-0, 2-2 on aggregate. LAFC advanced on away goals. All time, Colorado Rapids have now been first round exits in all five appearances in Conca Champions appearances. There are the only team with multiple appearances to never get out of the first round. Brutal.

Same stadium, same result. But this was the closest so far.

Eight games all time at BMO Stadium. Eight losses. Combined score 23-2. LAFC’s a really good team. This is another data point that shows the Rapids have a defined ceiling against the top teams in MLS.

The fact that the Rapids are now first round exits in three recent Concacaf appearances really hurts. A 0-0 draw in this game and Pids fans fell great about this week going into the MLS home opener. But many will feel like it’s the same old Rapids in this dang stadium and this competition.

That away goal at the end of the first leg came back to bite. Fine margins, again.

All in on Chido: The defense was really good.

Those low crosses from the Manchester City Zone are killer. And they’re a tough offense to deny for 180 minutes. One strange set piece and one low cross into the box was enough. The Rapids defense was excellent across the tie. This was the best defensive performance in club history on the road to Los Angeles. They held Giroud and Bouanga didn’t get loose as he often does.

I am sold on Chido Awaziem. He’s physical. Good in the air. Smart playing out of the back. He’s crafty when he needs to be. He was excellent. I hope Concacaf and/or LAFC look into the claimed racial abuse. I hope it is not true.

Credit to Cannon as well. It looked like a season-ending injury a week ago in stoppage time. He has now gone 90 minutes in the week since and been making plays. His mark scored the goal though. A tough end to a week for him.

Lots of frustration. No shots on goal.

But like the MLS opener at St. Louis, it felt all that defensive grit was at the expense or in despite of little offensive output. Five shots, but none on goal. They have two goals in three competitive games so far, both set pieces by Mihailović. Bassett hasn’t been the same catalyst in a slightly different role to the pivot last year. They weren’t effective on set pieces.

Armas did say postgame he thought the Navarro play in the first half should have been a penalty. That call would have changed the game.

You could see the frustration from the players. Bassett showed his emotions in ways we saw too much in 2023. Colorado players got five yellow cards in a 12 minute span. They had a good game plan. It almost worked. Until it didn’t. And they couldn’t switch things up enough to get a result. Again.

Alex Harris made his debut in the 83rd. He looked good in preseason. Waynes Frederick II made another sub appearance showing he’s progressing. So there’s that. When none of Bassett, Mihailović, and Navarro are clicking, it’s hard for this team to find goals.

Photo Credit: John Babiak

Thank you for reading Burgundy Wave. Support us via our Patreon starting at $5/month. We’re always looking for new talent. Let us know if you’re interested in covering Colorado Soccer.