Saint Louis, Mo. – For the Colorado Rapids, Saturday night might as well have been the Twilight Zone. Another game against St. Louis CITY, it was all too familiar, Rob Holding red card and all.
Matt Wells changed the lineup for the visitors. Loïc Williams made his second straight start for his new club, this time at left back and captain. Lucas Herrington was in at center back. Darren Yapi was in attack. For St. Louis, Jeong Sang-bin started, having scored the only goal in the reverse fixture May 9. Former Rapid Rafa Santos was on the bench.
It was going to be interesting to see how Colorado played in a back four with three natural center backs. That plan got ruined just 12 minutes in. Yapi delivered a hospital back pass from the sideline to Holding. Holding couldn’t control on the first touch and took down Sang-bin.
As the last man, Holding was given a straight red card for DOGSO. It was his second DOGSO red card in two games this year against CITY.
Down a man, Miguel Navarro subbed on for Dante Sealy to restore the back four. Colorado dropped their line of confrontation but were adventurous with the ball, pushing men forward when they won it back.
The home side got in good areas and created space. They had trouble turning that into shots on goal. Colorado closed down space and blocked shots. The best chance of the first half was a 37th minute volley by Sang-bin that hit the crossbar.
St. Louis were more threatening to start the second half. Simon Becher scored on a cross where he was offside by more than a yard. Tomas Totland had a great look in the 62nd that was saved by Nico Hansen. Miguel Navarro and Herrington were excellent in 1-v-1 defending situations.
If Colorado’s defense was going to be beaten, it was going to take a moment of individual magic. Unfortunately for the Pids, a striker from Tomás Ostrák in the 83rd minute did just that. The Czech midfielder sent a ball on a rope past Hansen and into the far side netting. The match ended 1-0.
Rob Holding red card; shoutout to Navarro and Williams:
There’s only one place to start with this game. Holding pulled on Sang-bin’s shoulder. He was the last defender back. Absolutely denial of a goalscoring opportunity.
That said, his two DOGSOs against St. Louis this year have been harsh on him. And outliers. The one on May 9 was on a ball in the air that was tough to judge can could have gone either way. Tonight, Yapi hung him out to dry with the hard pass. Holding addressed the team in the locker room postgame, taking responsibility.
“Nobody leaves the field and is angry at Rob at all. It’s not even a thought… That could have happened to anybody… He didn’t even have to apologize and we all would have respected him. Him apologizing gives everybody that extra love for him,” Aaronson said of that interaction.
Still, a 12th minute red card on the road where you’re trying something different defensively made it tough. Colorado accepted the challenge. CITY had 19 shot attempts, 10 of which Colorado blocked. They had three shots on goal, two of which were comfortable saves for Hansen.
Miguel Navarro was excellent off the bench. Managed the game and the officiating well. And did so while dealing with an injury that kept him from starting this game. Minutes into subbing on, Navarro needed medical attention for a finger being bent the wrong way. Absolute dawg.
“Nothing but pride for what they’ve done tonight. The mentality, the toughness… some of the defensive moments were outstanding… It took a 25-yard shot on an angle to go post and in to beat us… It’s devastating to lose. The context of the game actually for me showed a side of the team that I’m very proud of,” Wells told Burgundy Wave.
Loïc Williams also equipped himself well as captain.
“There’s a reason I signed Loïc. His mentality is outstanding. He’s probably the most vocal guy in the dressing room. He has fantastic leadership qualities… We’re going to move the armband around… We have a lot of potential leaders and we just need to draw that out of them,” Wells added.
Another uneventful attacking performance:
It’s hard to judge the offense on a night when you’re down a man for 78 minutes. Still, just two shot attempts and the first was in the 65th minute. And this comes after Wednesday’s game in which Colorado were the protagonist but struggled to create shots on goal. If Williams hadn’t scored a stoppage time winner on Wednesday, it’s a bad week for the Rapids.
“They still kept a solid, intact five back. It’s always going to be difficult. We needed to pick and choose our moments. I think in the first half we did a better job of… giving us time on the ball… You have to draw fouls. We could have been a little bit more active when we win it,” said Paxten Aaronson.
In two games back from the World Cup, it’s been a bit flat. The wingers haven’t been great. Aaronson and Josh Atencio have made runs forward that haven’t led to much. Not counting Open Cup, Rafael Navarro has one goal in seven games. There’s blame to go around.
The last time they scored multiple goals in MLS play was the Mile High game against Messi, April 18.
Even accounting for the red card, Matt Wells said it best: “I preferred our mentality in Toronto.”
Colorado’s next three games are at home. August 1 vs Austin FC, August 15 vs Sporting KC, and August 19 vs LAFC. Then August 22, they play at San Diego. Three of those games are against mid teams. They need to restart dominating games, scoring goals, and winning.
Omens for the Open Cup Semifinal:
These two teams will meet September 16 in the Open Cup Semifinal. Cup competitions can exist in a vacuum. Seven weeks is a long time for form to go up or down. The transfer window will have closed by then. It’s unfair to judge a team by two games in which a red card occurred. Especially if the reds were preventable.
Holding getting sent off in these two games will be a talking point for media and supporters. Even more so if he starts that game.
From the run of play, Colorado was the better team 11-v-11 in the home leg back in May. This game was always going to be tough with a sending off so early. If Ostrák doesn’t score that goal, maybe Colorado holds on for a point and we feel better about it.
The critical moments leading to 1-0 wins for St. Louis will be discussed. The performances and six points conceded won’t matter to Rapids fans if Colorado wins September 16.
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Spencer Baldwin 
Eamon Shaw 