Saint Paul, Minn.- Sometimes things just aren’t going your team’s way. They get hit by the injury bug. A few tough referee calls and they’re missing a key player. It’s a tough part of the schedule. You just need to band together and win a game ugly. That’s where Colorado Rapids found themselves on Wednesday night as they traveled to the Allianz Arena to play Minnesota United.
Rapids manager Matt Wells was forced to make five changes with injuries and suspensions to Rob Holding and Hamzat Ojediran. Noah Cobb was in at center back. Wayne Frederick II start in midfield. He was joined by Connor Ronan, making his first start of the year. Keegan Rosenberry started and captained the size.
For Minnesota, James Rodríguez got his second start as a Loon. Former Rapid Anthony Markanich started at left wingback.
Wells went with an interesting tactic. In defense, Colorado were a 5-3-2 and a 4-2-2-2 in the attack. Jackson Travis went from wingback to left midfielder next to Paxten Aaronson. The Rapids absorbed pressure for much of the first half but created chances in transition and switching the field on long balls.
The Loons were unlucky to not score in the first half. Nico Hansen played out of the back to Ronan in the 23rd. Ronan turned the ball over to Joaquín Pereyra who didn’t get his shot on goal. James hit the post on a shot from distance 5 minutes later. Then Markanich had a volley go off the top of the crossbar and over. The Allianz Arena crowd erupted to inspire the home team to keep going but it was to no avail.
Colorado went 0-1 up against the run of play in the 26th. Paxten Aaronson had a patented dribble up the middle. He drew defenders toward him, creating a passing lane for Rafa Navarro. He passed to the Brazilian for a breakaway goal. It was Navarro’s 8th goal of the MLS season.
Minnesota appeared to equalize three minutes into the second stanza. Peryra made a run in behind and squared the ball for a Markanich tap in but the flag went up. Both players were offside.
The second half had lulls. Colorado did well to limit space. They didn’t let Minnesota get in rhythm, committing 24 fouls (to United’s 18). Colorado didn’t press as much as usual, but when there was a pressing trigger, it was all out and effective. Kelvin Yeboah had a chance in the 77th on a side-foot volley at the near post but the shot was always going wide.
One would have expected the Loons to push and have a surge of chances, but it never came. Colorado held on for the 0-1 win. It was their first win in MLS since April 11 vs Houston Dynamo.
Colorado travel to Real Salt Lake on Saturday May 16 for the first leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. MT. Miguel Navarro will be suspended for yellow card accumulation due a caution in this match.
Matt Wells was pragmatic. It worked.
A back five in defense. Only 45% of the ball, 0.62 xG to Minnesota’s 1.17. Fouling to kill the game. Playing with four fullbacks at one point. This was hardly “dominating” Matt Wells Ball.
Take away the Yeboah side-foot and Markanich volley and the expected goals were the same. Both of those would have been audacious finishes. Colorado forced Minnesota to break them down. They couldn’t. The Rapids had three players high on defensive set pieces to leave space in the box for Hansen and negate Minnesota’s height advantage.
“The design was a consequence of the players we had available… To go out and play our normal shape tonight would have setting the guys up to fail… It made perfect sense to play a back five. It suited this opponent… It was a special performance tonight. It was probably our least fluid performance with the ball… What we didn’t lose courage with was our pressing… There was an increase in the mentality to force a win, to demand a win,” Wells told Burgundy Wave.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Two staters were suspended. Another two injured. Second game of a three-game week. Wells had to rotate and fit some unlikely players together into a coherent game plan. It felt like the match at Houston, but with better execution. Good teams can win ugly.
Connor Ronan’s first start. A bunch of other guys played well.
There’s a number of individuals who deserve credit. Let’s start with Connor Ronan. He and Frederick both played hurt and had not trained. Fantastic performances given the circumstances. Ronan looked like his 2023 self. Good recovery runs and interceptions. Tidy on the ball, other than that one pass. Good long passes going forward. He was what the Rapids needed with Hamzat out.
“We’ve missed Connor so much. The quality that he brings and the energy he brings, it’s immense… The shift that everyone put in, from second balls, not losing their man, not giving them space to breathe. Everyone played fantastic,” Hansen told Burgundy Wave.
Rafael Navarro now has 8 goals, 4 assists in 13 MLS games, That’s tied for 4th in MLS. He had one big chance and he made it count. He did all that while being a pressing monster in this game. He’s everything you want in a number 9. He should make the MLS All-Star game. He’s on pace for 31 goal contributions. That would shatter multiple club records. That’s an MVP finalist, Messi or not.
Credit to Cobb as well on catching up to snuff out several counter attacks. Aaronson was good, not just on the assist.
A needed result ahead of the derby:
Since the 6-2 win over Houston, Colorado had a draw at LAFC and four losses. There was a challenging schedule and some Open Cup games to be fair. But the last two games have been disappointing, losing 1-0 at Houston then last Saturday against St. Louis. As Wells said, the team needed a win.
“It was important to build some momentum tonight… Now that wins on the board. It sets us up perfectly… It’s a huge game because it’s the opponent (RSL), our rival… I’m really hopeful that we’ll have players coming back for that game,” said Wells.
This result will give them momentum going into the Rocky Mountain Cup on Saturday. The suspended players will be back. Wells expects Josh Atencio to be back in training and available. They’re a Zack Steffen shoulder away from being a fully operational battle station against that team that plays at America First Field.
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Spencer Baldwin 
Eamon Shaw 