Sandy, UT– It was the same movie that Rapids fans have seen over and over again when the Rapids go to Utah. Colorado comes out to a fast start, this time scoring early. Then an individual mistake derails all the momentum from the fast start. RSL jump on this chance and get enough goals to usually comfortably win on the back of some pretty unrepeatable goals. It was the same movie again when Matt Wells took his first trip to Utah.
Matt Wells made a few changes to the starting eleven for this match. He had Rob Holding available after suspension, but chose to play without him, with Miguel Navarro and Jackson Travis making up the left side of the backline. Hamzat Ojediran returned from suspension. Noah Cobb and Keegan Rosenberry made way for Ojediran and Kosi Thompson to start the match.
RSL did not have Diego Luna in the matchday squad. Had some muscle tightness during the week. Other than Luna, it was a usual lineup for Pablo Mastroeni, headlined by Zavier Gozo and Sergi Solans.
Colorado got an early start off a corner in the seventh minute. A floated ball found Paxten Aaronson in the box with enough time to take a touch. He does very well to get around his man, and he plays a dangerous ball across the box, and Wayne Frederick pounces to make it 1-0 early.
The Rapids then had some nervy moments on the ball, especially in the back, until one finally hurt Colorado as Jackson Travis was far too casual on the ball, giving the ball away. A fortuitous bounce found Sergi Solans through, and an unselfish ball found Zavier Gozo with an easy finish. It was poor from the left back. The danger of playing out of the back found the Rapids at the wrong time, and RSL found their equalizer 36 minutes in.
Colorado then took hold of the game. The last 10 minutes of the half were all Colorado, with RSL trying and failing to hit the long ball, while the Rapids were good on the ball and keeping RSL in their own half. This didn’t lead to much, but Colorado managed to reach the halftime level with their Rocky Mountain rivals.
The second half was when RSL started to gain more traction in the match. They started to get the lion’s share of chances, but neither team could really make a clear-cut chance. But it didn’t take a clear-cut chance for RSL to get the eventual game winner.
A spell of possession for RSL sprouted a half chance, before the ball popped out and was played to Sanabria out wide. Paxten Aaronson failed to put enough pressure on the RSL player as he whipped in a good cross to Sergi Solans. The forward found the space in between the center backs and flicked a header past Hansen from 12 yards out. It was a well-taken goal from RSL. It wasn’t pretty for the Rapids defense.
Chances were few and far between for both sides after that. Colorado couldn’t seem to be dangerous in front of net. They didn’t test Rafael Cabral much in this match, and failed to get too much of a good look after going down a goal. The best chance was Alexis Manyoma hitting a shot from 20 yards out, but he got it all wrong. It wasn’t very close.
RSL were able to ride out 2-1 victors on the net, showcasing some very effective time wasting that would make Pablo very proud. Matt Wells has heralded this team as a “New Rapids,” but it looked all too familiar against Real Salt Lake. Matt Wells said post-game, “I actually felt we were the better team, disappointing to concede the goal that we conceded, because it’s not even a chance, header from 16 yards, and I think if they’re the chances you’re giving up consistently, then you’re probably in a good spot.”
Rapids Rewarded for Set-Piece Routine
The Rapids’ only goal on the night came from a rehearsed set-piece play by assistant coach Rob Burch. Colorado had scored on a few set-piece plays earlier in the season, but the return has dried up recently. It is a good thing to have goals from set plays. The Rapids of all teams would know this.
When asked about his assist, Paxten Aaronson told Burgundy Wave, “Yeah, it was a good way to start the game. It was something we worked on all week with Rob Burchy, just to deliver it back post, and then just see if I could finish it first time in that situation. I just thought it was too far of a distance, so I took the touch and just took the guy 1v1, and credit to Wayne, and I saw many other guys even behind him, so if Wayne didn’t put it in, I knew Rafa was there, just put in a good area, and credit for them for being there.”
Wells Urges Team to Stick with the Process
Matt Wells knows more than most that his tactics can take a while to fully reach his team. In a match like tonight’s, it can be easy to question the work and process of Wells and his team. Whether or not there are questions to be asked, Wells is confident that with time, his plan will start to show its rewards.
Wells told the media, “When you’re three or four months into it, of course, there’s going to be so many turnovers, but the way of arriving as the finished article is, unfortunately, you have to keep turning the pages. You can’t just say, ‘Oh, let’s just skip to the end of the book,’ or ‘Let’s just change books.’”
“We have to keep sticking to the process, keep doing the things that got us into that position, keep playing with the ball. I thought some of our decisions with the ball were perplexing, especially based off the way that the opponent was pressing.”
Wells has already alluded to potentially bringing in other players who will play at the level he requires in his system. It will be interesting to see how soon he acts on that.
Eyes Turn to US Open Cup
A loss against a rival is always a little harder to swallow. It was no different tonight. But there isn’t much time for the Rapids to wallow with a midweek matchup against San Jose in the quarter-finals of the US Open Cup.
Paxten Aaronson was aware of the pain of losing to a rival, telling the media, “I mean, obviously, it’s still sore. It hurts when you come back into the locker room, and you lose against your rivals, so it’s not going to wear off very easily.”
“But important that tomorrow the page kind of flips, we’ve done well enough to get ourselves in a quarterfinal and a match on Wednesday to put ourselves in the semifinal to win a trophy, and at the end of the day, trophies are the number one thing you want to win in soccer and football.”
Matt Wells told the media, “I just told the guys that the MLS doesn’t exist. There is no MLS. We have a trophy, a different trophy to play for on Wednesday, so we can’t be thinking about Dallas. We can’t think any further ahead than good recovery now.”
The Colorado Rapids haven’t been to a US Open Cup quarterfinal in 20 years. They have a chance to go even farther this Wednesday. The Rapids will have to take this loss to a rival on the chin and be better when San Jose comes to town.
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Eamon Shaw 