The Colorado Rapids had a good performance against the Los Angeles Galaxy in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs on Saturday night, going into halftime with a one-goal lead.
In the first 10 minutes of the second half, it became clear that this Rapids team had run out of gas and impact players against a fully-formed MLS Cup contender. The result was a 5-0 loss heading into the second game at home against Colorado.
“The message (to the team) is clear: Games like this will come. They’re a good team, and we realized once again: (Galaxies) are a good team,” Rapids coach Chris Armas said. “We knew we were ready for it, but the message is clear that no matter how many goals we concede before tonight, the next game is important now.
“We have 18,000 fans waiting for us on Friday night, so we have to go home. We’re going to figure this out. I’m the coach and I’m going to take it seriously. , the type of person who finds solutions to help.”
The only goal of the first half came from the Galaxy’s only corner of the first half. Riqui Puig’s high cross was met by Galaxy forward Dejan Jovezic, who tipped Reggie Cannon vertically to score the goal. The shot looked easy, but it slipped past Zach Steffen’s diving left hand.
Then it got ugly. In the 52nd minute, Galaxy left back John Nelson received a pass from right back Jirai Yamane in a dangerous position, took a touch, passed Steffen and placed it into the top right corner. Less than two minutes later, Jovezic made it 3-0 for Puig in the first half with an assist to the Spanish midfielder.
Jovezic scored his second goal in the 75th minute, and Puig added one with a finish in the 87th minute.
Rapids defenseman and captain Keegan Rosenberry said the result was a result of the team encountering a number of great players with Puig pulling the strings, and his three-goal contribution that night was testament to that. are.
He said the Galaxy didn’t necessarily do anything different than the first two games of the season (both of which the Rapids lost by three goals), just more in the intensity of the playoffs. Ta.
“Special players, good, talented players. We didn’t do a good enough job of limiting them, especially Puig,” Rosenberry said. “Our challenge is to get him off the ball and not give him time to hold onto the ball. He is a man who does things like
“He’s a good player, and they have a lot of players like that. We didn’t do a good enough job in that regard tonight, so they punished us for that.”
The Rapids were without star midfielder Djordje Mihailovic with an ankle injury in the week leading up to the game, but homegrown star Cole was expected to return from a month-long quad injury.・I was looking forward to Bassett’s return. As of Friday, the club said Bassett was feeling well, but he suffered a setback and was deemed unfit for play before Saturday’s game.
Hey, were you both lonely? Omir Fernandes, who played in Mihailovic’s No. 10 position, didn’t have much of an impact, but it didn’t really spread to the rest of the team. As in the past few games, the Rapids found some dangerous chances but didn’t threaten Galaxy goalie John McCarthy at all.
In total, the Rapids outscored the Galaxy by just one stroke, giving up 19 RBIs.
The Rapids have a home game next Friday at 7:30 p.m., and then still have a chance to play in the series, if needed, at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday, Nov. 9.
Coach Armas hasn’t been afraid to hint that a third game is needed, saying, “We’re definitely going to win the game in Colorado,” pointing to the team that will eventually break the Galaxy’s winning streak in the 2024 DHSP. (currently 14 wins, 0 losses, and 3 draws this year).
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