Glass Half Full or Empty? Rapids Draw Dynamo After Conceding Late.

HOUSTON, Texas – A goal six minutes in to stoppage time makes for a climactic end of a soccer game. One team comes back in the game. The other drops points. But when the team that concedes does so regularly at the ends of halves, it can deflate you. Is your glass half full or half empty?

On Saturday night, Colorado Rapids went to Shell Energy Stadium to play Houston Dynamo.

Chris Armas ran it back with the starting line. The team that beat San Diego last week was unchanged. Darren Yapi started up top in the 4-2-2-2. Djordje Mihailović was on the left with Cole Bassett on the right.

Houston’s lineup did not have many surprises given the injuries. Jack McGlynn was in midfield. Amine Bassi was in the attack. Newly signed Jonathan Bond made his debut in orange in goal.

The first half was energetic from both sides. Both teams played up tempo. The Rapids pressing did well. They had several long balls out of the back that led to chances. Houston played down their right flank through Evergreen, Colorado native Griffin Dorsey.

Djordje Mihailović was in the center of the attack. Minutes into the game, Oli Larraz delivered a great ball into the box and the temporary captain tried a bicycle kick. In the 20th minute, Yapi played him into the six yard box. He went 1-v-1 with the keeper at the near post but Bond made the save. Navarro also had a breakaway that he squandered with a chip that was wide with Bond off his line.

Houston tried to feed striker Ezequiel Ponce but the Rapids center backs held their own. Houston took the lead on 42 minute. A Dorsey cross to Ponce could not connect. The rebound was played to Bassi who beat Steffen. The Rapids midfield shifted over to the side the ball came down and the back line dropped back with Ponce making a run.

Colorado responded to start the second half. Navarro chased down a ball into space in the box, surprising center back Obafemi Awodesu. Awodesu ran into Navarro for a penalty. Mihailović calmly beat Bond, sending him the wrong way 59th to make it 1-1.

The game got stretched with both teams playing direct. Navarro got his just rewards in the 77th. Substitute Kévin Cabral pressed and won the ball at midfield. Navarro played Mihailović to spring a counter attack. Djordje played the ball back to the Brazilian who threaded the ball from an angle past Bond. It was 1-2 with 13 minutes left.

Colorado appeared to be hanging on, with the defense bending but not breaking. However in the sixth minute of stoppage time, Colorado did not put pressure on the ball. McGlynn crossed to Franco Escobar, who headed it to new star striker Ondrej Lingr. He headed the ball out of the reach of Steffen. The ball rolled towards the far post and in. The match ended 2-2.

“With the second goal, it’s a difficult header. Puts it in the one place that Zack can’t get it. It’s the little details that bit us again. It is what it is,” Mihailović told Burgundy Wave.

Navarro gets his just rewards:

Rafael Navarro has been a pressing monster since coming to Colorado. He does so much thankless dirty work off the ball that helps the team. And often times he does that in tough road games where he’s alone up top (Navarro Island) with no service. He draws a penalty which gets converted then scores minutes later. He now has 5 goals in 9 games and that’s with Mihailović on penalties.

Armas was complementary of his striker: “He’s obsessed with scoring goals. But he does all the dirty work. He’s so important for us. I love that he scores. His confidence will remain high. His commitment to run in behind, he gave them fits.”

Djordje the PK Taker and Captain!?

Djordje Mihalović is the Rapids talisman. If everyone else does their job as expected and he is special, they can beat most teams in MLS. He was good on the ball. Calm and collected on the penalty. And he’s now the vice captain with Rosenberry coming off the bench for tactical reasons the last two games.

“The role that he steps into when he wears that captain’s armband, it’s good for him. To challenge his leadership. His teammates are relying him,” said Armas.

“It’s something I’ve thought about before. “I don’t change who I am. Glad that the coaches and players say I have, I won’t say respect, but loyalty with this role. It’s an honor. I talked to Keegan about how he does his (pregame) speeches,” Mihailović reflected.

It was More Consistent. There’s Still Room for Improvement.

Credit to Jason Maxwell for this stat. Colorado has conceded 15 goals this year. Eight of those have been in the final 5 minutes of halves or in stoppage time. This was a much better performance on the road. It was great to see them play well after a win. They need to finish halves better. A little more consistency and they can be great in this league.

“Essentially had to make one more play. We didn’t. They did. We have to accept that. You’ve got to be able to close it out. We’ll learn from it,” said Armas.

Speaking of consistency, Cabral has come under a lot of criticism for his start of to the season. He’s come off the bench in two straight games. Did well to press and win the ball on the second goal. Still hasn’t done much in the final third. Andreas Maxsø’s marking wasn’t great on either goal.

Rapids Draw Dynamo: Glass Half Full or Empty?

“We were looking for consistency. As a group, we’ve agreed this is an area we want to show growth. We think we showed that. For that, it looks like a win. If you just look at the result, it feels a little bit like a loss,” Armas said.

“For 80 minutes out of the game, we do a good job. We go down a goal, we stick together. We leave two points on the table. We come into the locker room in a pretty bad mood. But overall it’s a good performance from us,” added Mihailović

There’s an argument for both glass half full and empty. I’ll go glass half full. Plenty of Rapids fans were ready for a let down because this team has been so inconsistent between home and road games. Houston’s better than their record I think. The performance was much better. Glass half full. If this happens in October, it’ll be glass half empty.

Speaking of improved performances, Colorado host Seattle Sounders next Saturday, April 26 at 7:30 pm MT.

Also, I have no idea how the officials came up with 8 minutes of second half stoppage time. Two second half goals. No real injury stoppages. Four stoppages for substitutions. No hydration breaks. It could have been 5-6 minutes. That was some 2022 World Cup stoppage time math.

Photo Credit: Mark Shaiken

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