COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – The Colorado Rapids hosted Seattle Sounders FC in a late game on Sunday night. The Rapids were looking to improve on their midweek performance to get their first point since returning to play after their COVID-19 outbreak. The Sounders wanted a result to help secure the top seed in the Western Conference.
It’s Alive! Colorado Rapids Come Alive to Beat Seattle 3-1
The first half was nuts. Against the run of play, Colorado opened the scoring 11 minutes in. Nicolas Benezet passed to Sam Vines in space at the side of the box. The left back crossed into the box. Andre Shinyashiki won the ball against Shane O’Neill with a powerful header to score.
Seattle tied it through Jordan Morris in the 22nd minute. Cristian Roldan and Kelvin Leerdam played a two man game to get through the Rapids defense. Roldan dribbled to the touchline and crossed the ball. It passed through two players to Morris at the back post who got a touch to it (and an awkward one at that) to make it 1-1.
Things got heated on 35 minutes. Yeimar Gómez was given a yellow card for an elbow into the body of Diego Rubio after the ball went out for a throw in near the Colorado technical area. Moments later, Cole Bassett was called for a foul as Raul Ruidiaz went rolling on the pitch.
Colorado regained the lead just before halftime. Keegan Rosenberry volleyed the ball after it was cleared on a corner. He beat Stefan Frei to the bottom corner to make it 2-1 at the break.
The Rapids controlled play in the second half. After several good opportunities, they moved to a mid-block to counter Seattle who were chasing the game. After winning a free kick in transition, Jack Price found Cole Bassett for a header.
The match ended 3-1.
First time 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 from Keegan Rosenberry!! pic.twitter.com/Y7ednUJlC5
— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) November 2, 2020
Key Takeaways:
Smothering defense: Robin Fraser’s stingy defense return in this match. Jordan Morris and Nicolas Lodeiro were man-marked at times with Raul Ruidiaz given little space by the center backs. It hampered the Rave Green attack.
Colorado Rapids come alive: The Rapids have improved each of their last two games. Their form is close to where it was prior to the outbreak within the club. They were clinical on set pieces and the better team from the run of play.
Race for first: With this loss, Seattle find themselves neck-and-neck with Sporting KC and Portland Timbers at the top of the Western Conference. With one week left in the regular season, any of these three could claim home field advantage through the conference finals.
