Slowness in the wrong moments and a touch of misfortune doomed the Colorado Rapids against Minnesota United on Saturday night.
It’s no surprise that the Rapids are better at home than they are on the road, but a somewhat troubling trend is emerging. In two straight games on the road against bottom-half Western Conference teams, the Rapids looked flat when it counted only to pick it up too late. Most recent, the Rapids lost to Minnesota, 3-0.
Minnesota struck first in the 16th minute when midfielder Robin Lod pinged a ball out of the air on goal, but forward Kelvin Yeboah got his head on it to redirect it to the near post. Though it almost looked like Yeboah was trying to get out of the way of the blast, Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen had already dove toward the far post. Wrongfooted, he had to watch as the redirection trickled across the goal line at the near post.
Yeboah, who joined Minnesota in August and already had five goals in as many games before kickoff Saturday, tallied his second brace with his new club and brought his total to seven goals in six games.
His first on the night took a bit of fortune, but his second was almost entirely on the Rapids’ defense, which watched as Minnesota carved it up with neat passing until Joaquín Pereyra found Yeboah on a diagonal run. Yeboah, with defender Keegan Rosenberry all over him, tucked it away in the 47th minute.
Related Articles
Colorado Rapids clinch MLS Cup playoff berth with 2-0 win over Toronto
Rapids drop chance to clinch playoff spot, eliminate Sporting Kansas City: “It’s probably a wake-up call for us”
Rapids could clinch playoff berth with win over Kansas City, help: “We want to really keep momentum going”
Djordje Mihailovic, Rafael Navarro power narrow Rapids win over Portland
Rapids have one more shot at redemption against Portland: “These are the games you need to win”
Minnesota midfielder Hassani Dotson joined the fun and sealed the deal in the 82nd minute with a long-distance strike to the bottom right corner through Andreas Maxsø’s legs.
Rapids midfielder Djordje Mihailovic had his team’s two best chances, one in each half. In the first period, forward Rafael Navarro laid a delicious ball back for Mihailovic to take on the first touch, which forced Dane St. Clair diving for his only save of the night.
In the second half, down 2-0, Mihailovic received a ball seemingly in the clear, but took one touch too many and allowed St. Clair to close out and make himself big. Mihailovic tried to chip the Canadian keeper, but missed just wide to the right.
The Rapids’ next game will be at home against Western Conference leaders LA Galaxy on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.