Andreas Maxsø Own Goal: Colorado Rapids Lose at FC Dallas 3-1

Frisco, Texas – Weird things always seem to happen when the Colorado Rapids go to Frisco. Saturday night saw the Pids play at FC Dallas. It was another game in which they concede first and weren’t able to get a result, on the road no less.

Rapids manager Chris Armas went with the same lineup that beat Houston last weekend. Rob Holding and Rafael Santos started in defense. Cole Bassett was on the left in the 4-2-3-1. Calvin Harris was on the other wing. It was the gingers, Connor Ronan and Oli Larraz, in the double pivot.

For FC Dallas, Petar Musa started up top. Former Burgundy Boy Lalas Abubakar was on the bench.

The home side opened the scoring in the 14th minute. Logan Farrington delivered a cross into the gap and Musa headed it well past Steffen and in. The Rapids backline was mishappe, shifted over to one side. The Croatian found himself between Holding and Santos. Captain Andreas Maxsø was not there to challenge the ball. This came after Chrisian Cappis hit the post in the opening minutes.

Against the run of play, Colorado made it 1-1 in the 21st. In transition, Santos crossed the ball into the box. It was headed out by a defender and fell to Harris. He took two touches and shot, threading the ball through the defense and inside the bottom left corner.

Cappis made it 2-1 in the 36th minute. Off a recycled set piece, Patrickson Delgado found Cappis for a header inside the six yard box. The ball slipped through goalkeeper Zack Steffen’s hands, between his legs, and in.

The half ended 2-1.

The second half turned into a basketball game, with the teams going end-to-end. Colorado had a few half chances, but nothing that truly threatened the Dallas goal.

Steffen made up for his first half mistake on more than one occasion. In the 71st minute, Ronan let a horizontal pass get away from him, springing a two-on-none break away for Dallas. Musa took himself but Steffen made a great kick save. Three minutes later, Bernard Kamungo had a shot headed off the line by Maxsø.

The Rapids appeared to make it 2-2 in the 78th, when substitute Darren Yapi scored on a tap in, but he was rightfully called offside.

Two minutes later, Dallas put the game away. Dallas had several good balls into the box. Pedrinho sent a cross off Maxsø and past Steffen for an own goal. The match ended 3-1.

Another frustrating road loss:

Colorado are now 3-9-4 on the road in MLS play this season. That said, including Leagues cup, they’ve scored first in 9 road games. They conceded first, and early in this one, which has become a habit of late. They’re now 0-11-3 when conceding first this season.

“We talked about it before the game. We need to do something different on the road. We’ve scored first quite a lot on the road. Our problem has been sitting in, stop playing. The last few road games, we keep giving up goals first. For us, it’s starting a bit faster and better. A home, we’ve been doing that. On the road, we have not,” Cole Bassett told Burgundy Wave.

This team is decent at home and below average on the road. They’re rightfully in 8th in the Western Conference. At home, they come out with energy and respond after conceding. On the road, less so. There was a good start to the second half but it didn’t amount to anything.

“Tough result. Didn’t feel like we had that good of a performance. We allowed them to do what they wanted and we knew it was coming,” Bassett added.

“A night where we couldn’t sway the margins. We put ourselves a spot where we had to chase the game. We did. In the second half, we made a good push. We couldn’t get it done,” said Armas.

The defense is a work in progress.

Give the Dallas Burn credit. They made things difficult. They played direct football and made the game about second balls. They won those second balls to create counter attacks and second crosses.

“It’s a lot of randomness that you can control just by being alert and executing. They’re hard to play against. It’s forcing the coincidence. Anytime you add players late in the season, you try to ramp things up and get on the same page. Rob Holding, he’s a bright spot. We’re going to continue working at it,” said Armas.

This game displayed all of Colorado’s issues at one point or another. The backline shifted over too far on the first goal. On the second, Steffen made a big mistake. It’s errors like that that might be keeping him out of the USMNT squad. The third goal, they couldn’t relieve the pressure and Maxsø commits an own goal. On the Musa breakaway, the rest defense and the response weren’t good enough.

Holding and Santos are upgrades. The team is most solid defensively in the 4-2-3-1. The holding midfielders could have been more helpful. When the team limits mistakes and Steffen shows up, they’re formidable. When they don’t, this happens.

So is Cole Bassett’s role?

As we’ve written previously, it’s been an up-and-down season for Bassett. He’s so versatile and talented, that the coaches like him in a few different positions. What he tries to do is similar, but where on the field he does that, and who he’s around has mattered. Last week, it was good. This week, it was hard for him to affect the game. Ronan and Larraz putting in 6s and 7s/10 performances did not help. Armas thinks it can work. The player once again expressed his frustration:

“I’ve told you guys 1,000 times where my best position is. After having a year like I did last year, it’s frustrating to not play there many times this year. It gives me a chance to get up and score goals, get in the half space. I’ve got to figure out how to do better in that role. I could be in that role for the rest of the year. You got to find a way to impact the game and I didn’t tonight.”

Playoff implications:

For all the bluster of the weekend, Colorado finished the match day in 8th. Dallas are now two points behind with a game in hand. RSL are five back with two games in hand. Everyone else is behind and level on games played. They’ve got three games left, two at home. Four points should do it. It might only take three.

“Teams above us drop points. Teams below us gain a few. That’s what it is now. Three games to go and all to play for. We’re looking forward to Minnesota,” said Armas.

Colorado hosts Minnesota United next Saturday, September 27, at 7:30 p.m. MT.

Photo Credit: John Babiak

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