Los Angeles, Cali– The Colorado Rapids made the midweek trip to LAFC, and came out with their first-ever point at BMO Stadium. In a scoreless affair where the Rapids dominated possession but couldn’t create chances, there’s a chance Colorado is the more frustrated team with the draw. A big 180 from the usual trip to LAFC.
The Colorado Rapids made two changes from their loss to Inter Miami. Paxten Aaronson and Georgi Minoungou were replaced by Darren Yapi and Dante Sealy. It was a return to a usual 4-2-3-1 for Matt Wells.
LAFC didn’t rotate much of their starters, with both Denis Bouanga and Son Hueng-min both starting in the attack against the Rapids. Jacob Shaffelburg and Tyler Boyd joined the duo in the attacking four.
Colorado was dominant early, controlling the possession and the game. This had some drawbacks; however, LAFC was able to counter a few times, but without success early. Colorado had the better chances.
The first chance came from a Dante Sealy slalom through the box. His cross took a few deflections and almost found the net off Ryan Porteous. Hugo Lloris made a great save to keep his defender from scoring an own goal. Lloris was good twice more in the early stages, keeping Rafa Navarro out with a diving save and pushing a Dante Sealy shot over the bar.
The Colorado Rapids ended the first half with 78% possession. It was a dominant first half, but it did not mean much in front of goal. Colorado had 0.28 xG on three shots. The impressive stat at the half was that the Rapids held LAFC to zero shots. In a stadium where Colorado has never gotten a point, and has been outscored 26-2, it was easily the best half of soccer a Rapids team has played in BMO Stadium.
It was much of the same to start the second half, but it was LAFC that had the best chance of the early moments. An LAFC corner was poorly cleared by Colorado. It fell to Mathieu Choinière, who hit a peach of a shot off the bar and post. It did not cross the line, and Colorado cleared. The first LAFC shot of the match almost found its way past Zack Steffen.
It took until the 65th minute for the tide to start to turn in favor of the hosts. Jacob Shaffelburg had a few chances that he probably should have done better with. Colorado started to look much more like the Rapids of the past at BMO Stadium.
LAFC started to have some of their usual chances throughout the rest of the second half. They could not find their usual goal, however. The game ended 0-0, and Colorado picked up their first point at BMO Stadium.
“Really good performance. I think another very high-level technical performance from us. I think what we did, certainly the opening stage of the game, I think we had 91% of the ball,” Matt Wells said after the game.
First Ever Points at BMO Stadium
In the nine previous trips to BMO Stadium for the Colorado Rapids, they have lost all nine games and been outscored 26-2. In the tenth trip (and first for Matt Wells), the Rapids don’t get their goal, but do get a clean sheet and their first point in that stadium.
Matt Wells said, “I just showed the guy some stats in the changing room. We’ve lost nine out of nine here with an aggregate score of 25-2. So great for us to be so dominant with the ball tonight. Keep a clean sheet, which is important. We show that ability and that mentality.”
Rob Holding told Burgundy Wave, “We want to win every game, so we know we dominated the game. We deserve the three points. We didn’t get the three points, but if we don’t concede a goal, we at least come away with a point and a draw.”
A New Colorado Rapids Identity
Other Colorado Rapids teams could only dream of going away against LAFC and dominating possession. Some teams tried to do that and got punished for it. This team not only controlled the ball for most of the match, with Colorado ending with 72% possession, but they were the better side on the night.
Rob Holding said after the match, “This is how we want to be. Want to dominate games. You see in the first half. We were just getting them pinned in their half, and we were just popping the ball around trying to create chances.”
It may have been the two best halves of soccer the Rapids have played at BMO Stadium, and they came in the same game. Things are changing in Colorado under Matt Wells.
Possession vs Purpose
Colorado may have ended the night with over 70% possession, but failed to get over 0.5 expected goals and took only six shots, two on target, both in the first half. Holding told the media, “I think Lloris keeps them in the game first after two or three great saves. What we need to be better in terms of our finishing, but positive was the clean sheet.”
The lesser-talked-about benefit of having the ball that much is that it kept LAFC at bay and frustrated throughout the match. Not many teams can go to LAFC and keep them to 0.19 expected goals on five shots, with one on target. Denis Bouanga and Son Hueng-Min were quiet throughout the game, with the pair combining for one shot off target.
Matt Wells told Burgundy Wave, “There’s more to possession than creating chances. So, yeah, I think we have to analyze the game for what we need to improve. The possession is not passive possession. Let’s count how many times we arrived in their box, arrived in the final third, arrived in positions.”
A Frustrated LAFC Attack
As mentioned earlier, the dangerous duo of Denis Bouanga and Son Hueng-Min were kept very quiet in this match. Son, in particular, had some interesting words to say after the game. Matt Wells said after the game, “Let’s be the Colorado Rapids that Son just told me he’s the best team he’s faced this season.”
Matt Wells has a strong relationship with the former Tottenham striker. He told the media, “Yeah, great to see Sonny. Been looking forward to it. We have a close relationship, and we speak a lot, sort of via the phone, but yes, long time since I’ve seen him in person. So it was, it was also nice that we managed to keep him relatively quiet. That’s never an easy job.”
Thank you for reading Burgundy Wave. Support us via our Patreon starting at $5/month. You can also make a one-time contribution via Tip Jar. We’re always looking for new talent. Let us know if you’re interested in covering Colorado Soccer.
Eamon Shaw 