{"id":29417,"date":"2020-09-09T00:54:26","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T04:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/?p=29417"},"modified":"2020-09-09T02:19:06","modified_gmt":"2020-09-09T06:19:06","slug":"rapids-host-houston-dynamo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2020\/09\/09\/rapids-host-houston-dynamo\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Rapids Host Houston Dynamo For Chilly Colorado Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

PREVIEW<\/strong> – Houston Dynamo (3-2-4) travels to Colorado for their mid-week match against the Rapids (2-3-3), who are seeking their first win at home since before the MLS is Back tournament<\/a>. The Rapids host Houston and will seek to cool their hot offense \u2013 and they\u2019ll have some help courtesy of the chilly September weather.<\/p>\n

Cold Game In Store As Colorado Rapids Host Houston Dynamo<\/h2>\n
\n

wait wut https:\/\/t.co\/fvp6pebMed<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Houston Dynamo (@HoustonDynamo) September 8, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Rapids seem to have righted the ship defensively after their 1-4 humiliation against rivals Real Salt Lake<\/a> in their first game of the MLS re-restart. They tied each of their next games 1-1 against first Sporting KC and then San Jose.<\/p>\n

Part of the solution to the Rapids woes on the back line<\/a> looks to be dropping a midfielder into a much deeper defensive role. It hasn’t translated to wins but at least it’s stopped the losses, and defense will continue to be a focal point in this game for Rapids head coach Robin Fraser:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve certainly felt like over the last couple of weeks we\u2019ve defended quite well. We\u2019ve made it difficult for teams to get opportunities . . . That\u2019s got to be our focus. We have to continue to make it difficult for teams to get opportunities. They have so many weapons and so many players that you want to limit their ability to get to all of them. So, certainly for us, we feel like if we can continue in the fashion we have been then we give ourselves a good chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

The forecast snow did not materialize in time for today’s practice session, which @ColoradoRapids<\/a> head coach, Robin Fraser, was grateful for as they prepare for tomorrow’s meeting with Houston Dynamo.#Rapids96<\/a> | #COLvHOU<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/dgXI6EyTkQ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 AltitudeTV (@AltitudeTV) September 8, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As Colorado Rapids Defense Improves, Offense Plateaus<\/h3>\n

But while things have become more stable on the defensive side of the ball for the Rapids, their offense has suffered. The Rapids have failed to score more than a single goal in any of their games since the resumption of the regular season.<\/p>\n

In their ties against Sporting KC and San Jose, the Rapids only had 10 shots in each game, with only half of those on target. When the Rapids host Houston they’ll be looking to try to involve their new designated player Younes Namli in the game more to see if they can set their offense alike once more.<\/p>\n

\n

“He makes us dangerous.”<\/p>\n

Younes Namli has been bringing the heat. pic.twitter.com\/xFuRA65VW2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) August 31, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Houston Dynamo Look To Take Win Streak To Four Straight<\/h3>\n

On the opposite side of the playoff line early in the season restart, the Houston Dynamo are on a three game win streak since the end of the MLS is Back tournament. Not only that, they\u2019ve outscored their opponents at least two to one in each of those matches, beating Sporting KC 5-2 and then Minnesota United 3-0.<\/p>\n

The closest they came to even being challenged came in their recent a 2-1 win over Sporting KC (who is only currently at top of the Western Conference). In that game Sporting KC started strong and opened the scoring, but couldn\u2019t keep Houston \u2013 particularly Alberth Ellis \u2013 from clawing their way back in, and ultimately winning.<\/p>\n

\n

GOALS GOALS GOALS \ud83d\ude4c pic.twitter.com\/ohimziEELQ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 8, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“(Kansas City) knew they were playing a good team,” Houston coach Tab Ramos said<\/a> after the game. “And obviously we know we’re playing a great team and I think that’s why, for me, today’s win is the most important one we’ve had so far.”<\/p>\n

However, Ellis isn\u2019t the only one scoring on this dynamic Dynamo team. In their three-game win streak, Christian Ramirez, Niko Hansen, Darwin Quintero, Ariel Lassiter, and Mauro Manotas have all also scored. Fraser was right: That is a lot of weapons. In fact, with his goal on September 5, Manotas reached 50 goals and became one of Houston\u2019s all-time leading scorers.<\/p>\n

\n

With today’s goal, @MauroManotas19<\/a> has tied Will Bruin for second-most goals scored in league play for the club.<\/p>\n

\ud835\udd58\ud835\udd60\ud835\udd5d\ud835\udd56\ud835\udd52\ud835\udd55\ud835\udd60\ud835\udd63. pic.twitter.com\/A20CkHeNA2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Houston Dynamo (@HoustonDynamo) September 6, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Last Word:<\/h2>\n

The Dynamo will be looking to continue their win streak and will not be content to settle in for a tie. That said, it may be difficult for Houston\u2019s offense to get going given the adverse weather conditions and the high altitude that comes with playing games in Colorado. As they showed in their recent game against Sporting KC, though, they have the ability to be dangerous until the final whistle.<\/p>\n

If the Rapids want to be the immovable object to Houston\u2019s unstoppable force, they can\u2019t simply defend or sit back after scoring. They will have to keep applying offensive pressure as well by trying to involve Namli and other creative players as much as possible.<\/p>\n

The snowstorm looks like it will probably have abated by kickoff, dashing hopes for another SnowClassico<\/a>, but whether there\u2019s snow or shine, the Rapids will try to freeze Houston\u2019s offense in its tracks. They need to if they want stave off the chill of another disappointing home result and stay away from the very bottom of the Western Conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PREVIEW – Houston Dynamo (3-2-4) travels to Colorado for their mid-week match against the Rapids (2-3-3), who are seeking their first win at home since before the MLS is Back tournament. The Rapids host Houston and will seek to cool their hot offense \u2013 and they\u2019ll have some help courtesy of the chilly September weather. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3609,"featured_media":29424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,20,119],"tags":[3779,3910,35,234,57,3906],"class_list":["post-29417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rapids","category-dynamo","category-mls","tag-2020-colorado-rapids","tag-2020-houston-dynamo","tag-colorado-rapids","tag-houston-dynamo","tag-mls","tag-snow-classico-4"],"modified_by":"Matt Pollard","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3609"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}