The start of a Rocky Mountain Cup defense for the Colorado Rapids felt like an exhibition until the Rapids blew through the door in the 70th minute.
All it took was the sort of play Colorado had been trying to emulate for weeks. On the right side of the field, four players connected on one-touch passing before Cole Bassett found Djordje Mihailovic to set up a collected far-post finish from the star No. 10.
The tally was enough to come away with a 1-0 win over rival Real Salt Lake at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday evening. With a new schedule structure due to MLS expansion into San Diego, the two clubs play each other only twice this season instead of the usual three games. To secure the Cup, the Rapids will need a win or a draw at Salt Lake in October.
It was Bassett’s fifth assist all-time against RSL, making him the all-time club leader in assists in the matchup, passing former Rapid Terry Cooke. Mihailovic’s goal was his sixth of the season, pushing his goal contributions total to nine in just 14 regular-season games.
Off the bench, just a few minutes after he opened up the look at goal Colorado converted, Ted Ku-DiPietro was the recipient of a Darren Yapi pass at the top of the box on a breakaway, but cut it back toward the middle, fired away with his left foot and bruised the crossbar instead of doubling the lead.
Bassett could have done the same a minute later, but rifled a tough-angled shot at RSL goalkeeper Rafael Cabral. Bassett was injured on the play and was subbed off for his brother, Sam Bassett.
The Rapids, coming off a three-game losing streak, needed some good fortune to creep back up the MLS standings. Even better, as coach Chris Armas often preaches, they forced the coincidence against a compact RSL team clearly looking for a scoreless draw, if not a smash-and-grab win on a counter of its own.
The Rapids went the previous two games scoreless in two 2-0 losses to San Jose and San Diego, which ultimately sent them down to just outside the playoff picture with a third of the season gone.
Salt Lake, which lost a bevy of formidable attackers in the offseason, has been searching for a run of good form itself, but couldn’t find it in Colorado. Interestingly, RSL coach and former Rapid Pablo Mastroeni opted to sub off his best player, Diego Luna, in the 58th minute.
The Rapids will return home next Saturday for a Western Conference rematch with St. Louis City. In the regular-season opener, those teams battled to a scoreless draw.
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